Italy’s Louis Lynagh was selected by head coach Gonzalo Quesada when he named his side to face Australia in the first of their three Autumn internationals on Saturday in Udine, but captain Michele Lamaro is out through injury.
Italian-born Lynagh is the son of former Australia captain Michael, and the other wing in Italy’s side is Australian-born Monty Ioane. Lamaro suffered a thigh injury in training and centre Juan Ignacio Brex takes over the captaincy.
Brex will again form a formidable partnership with Tommaso Menoncello, while Ange Capuozzo, who scored two tries the last time Italy played Australia, is selected at fullback.
Italy are aiming to win back-to-back matches against the Australians, having won their last meeting in 2022. That 28-27 victory in Florence was the first time the Italians had beaten Australia, and came after a run of 18 defeats against the same opponents.
Stephen Varney is chosen at scrumhalf, with Lorenzo Cannone at number eight while Ross Vintcent moves to flanker to replace another injury absence, Sebastian Negri.
Quesada’s side will face South Africa the following Saturday in Turin, with a match against Chile in Genoa on November 22 concluding Italy’s series. Australia, who lost 25-7 to England last Saturday, have tests against Ireland and France to come.
Team:
15-Ange Capuozzo, 14-Louis Lynagh, 13-Juan Ignacio Brex, 12-Tommaso Menoncello, 11-Monty Ioane, 10-Paolo Garbisi, 9-Stephen Varney, 8-Lorenzo Cannone, 7-Manuel Zuliani, 6-Ross Vintcent, 5-Andrea Zambonin, 4-Niccolo Cannone, 3-Simone Ferrari, 2-Giacomo Nicotera, 1-Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:
16-Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17-Mirco Spagnolo, 18-Marco Riccioni, 19-Federico Ruzza, 20-Alessandro Izekor, 21-Martin Page-Relo, 22-Tommaso Allan, 23-Leonardo Marin
