March 12 : Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada has made three changes to his starting side for their final Six Nations match against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, with Muhamed Hasa coming in to replace injured prop Simone Ferrari.
Ferrari was ruled out with a neck injury in Italy’s first-ever win over England last weekend, and Hasa, who came off the bench in that game, will make his first Six Nations start as Italy seek to win three matches in a single campaign for the first time.
Alessandro Fusco, who started Italy’s first three matches, comes back in at scrumhalf replacing Alessandro Garbisi while lock Federico Ruzza is preferred over Andrea Zambonin.
Stephen Varney is named in the matchday squad for the first time in this campaign, with the scrumhalf taking his place among the replacements having missed the previous games through injury.
Leonardo Marin, who started Italy’s first three matches, came on to score the winning try against England and is again named on the bench for the trip to the Millennium Stadium.
Italy beat Scotland in their opening game and Saturday’s landmark 23-18 win over England sets them up for a crack at registering their best ever Six Nations campaign since they joined in 2000.
Wales are bottom of the standings without a win and are aiming to end their 15-game losing streak in the competition. They have lost their last two Six Nations meetings with Italy.
Coach Steve Tandy named an unchanged Wales side from the one which impressed despite a 27-17 loss to Ireland in Dublin last weekend.
Italy team:
15-Lorenzo Pani, 14-Louis Lynagh, 13-Juan Ignacio Brex, 12-Tommaso Menoncello, 11-Monty Ioane, 10-Paolo Garbisi, 9-Alessandro Fusco, 8-Lorenzo Cannone, 7-Manuel Zuliani, 6-Michele Lamaro (captain), 5-Federico Ruzza, 4-Niccolo Cannone, 3-Muhamed Hasa 2-Giacomo Nicotera, 1-Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16-Tommaso di Bartolomeo, 17-Mirco Spagnolo, 18-Giosue Zilocchi, 19-Riccardo Favretto, 20-David Odiase, 21-Stephen Varney, 22-Leonardo Marin, 23-Tommaso Allan.
