Rugby - Polledri to make international bow for Italy against Scots
Reuters
Published Mar 15, 2018 13:48
Rugby - Polledri to make international bow for Italy against Scots
(Reuters) - Gloucester loose-forward Jake Polledri will make his Italy debut against Scotland at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday as they seek to arrest a run of 16 straight losses in the competition.
Bristol-born Polledri, 22, is the only change to coach Conor O’Shea's starting lineup from the side that lost 38-14 to Wales in their previous fixture.
He will pack down in the back row alongside Sebastian Negri, 23, the Zimbabwe-born flanker who has been one of the stand-out performers for Italy in the competition this year.
Polledri, who qualifies for Italy through his grandmother, replaces the injured Maxime Mbanda as they look to end another difficult campaign with a rare victory.
Number eight Sergio Parisse will again captain the side as he earns his 134th cap and equals former Ireland centre Brian O’Driscoll’s record of 65 Six Nations appearances.
Tommaso Allan continues at flyhalf, with an unchanged back-three of Matteo Minozzi, Tommaso Benvenuti and Mattia Bellini.
Italy’s last success in the Six Nations was against Scotland at Murrayfield in 2015, with seven of their 12 victories in the competition coming against the Scots.
Team:
15-Matteo Minozzi, 14-Tommaso Benvenuti, 13-Giulio Bisegni, 12-Tommaso Castello, 11-Mattia Bellini, 10-Tommaso Allan, 9-Marcello Violi, 8-Sergio Parisse (captain), 7-Jake Polledri, 6-Sebastian Negri, 5-Dean Budd, 4-Alessandro Zanni, 3-Simone Ferrari (NYSE:RACE), 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1-Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16-Oliviero Fabiani, 17-Nicola Quaglio, 18-Tiziano Pasquali, 19-Abraham Steyn, 20-Giovanni Licata, 21-Guglielmo Palazzani, 22-Carlo Canna, 23-Jayden Hayward.
Get The App
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.