PADOVA: Italy coach Jacques Brunel made just one change to his starting line-up today for Saturday’s Test against the Springboks.
Fijian-born Samuela Vunisa, who plays for Italian club Zebre, will make his Test debut at openside flank for the Azzurri. He replaces Simone Favaro, who wore the No 7 shirt in the 20-18 defeat to Argentina last Friday in Genoa.
The 60-year-old Frenchman Brunel, who has been a forwards coach for the France national team before, brought in one new face on the bench as well, with tighthead prop Dario Chistolini coming in for Lorenzo Cittadini.
South African-born lock Quintin Geldenhuys will give some insight into the Boks' approach as he continues in the No 4 jersey.
The Italians have never beaten the Boks in 11 encounters, and will look to cause an upset at the Stadio Euganeo on Saturday. The match starts at 4pm South African time.
Italy Team:
15 Andrea Masi, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Luke Mclean, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Samuela Vunisa, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Matias Aguero. Bench: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Alberto de Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Giulio Toniolatti.