Campagnaro starts for Italy

By Mark Stevens
8/6/2016

New Italy head coach Conor O'Shea has named Exeter Chiefs centre Michele Campagnaro in his first side ahead of this weekend's Test match against Argentina.

The 23-year-old, who was a key figure for the Azzurri during both their World Cup and Six Nations campaigns, will start alongside Zebre newcomer Tommaso Boni in the midfield.

Carlo Canna gets the nod at fly-half ahead of Tommaso Allan, meanwhile Andries van Schalkwyk starts at No.8 in place of the rested Sergio Parisse.

Ornel Gega wins just his third cap at hooker and O'Shea has named another uncapped player on the bench in the shape of Calvisano prop Sami Panico.

"It's been very nice to work with the players, and skills within this team are huge," said O'Shea.

"Now we must work hard to execute them in the coming weeks, months and years, but also encourage the players to put them into practice in every minute of every game, from beginning to end.

"We are all aware of the challenges that await us on this tour, but we face them with great enthusiasm and are eager to see the guys play this weekend against Argentina and to showcase the talent that we have."

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 David Odiete, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Andries van Schalkwyk, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti

Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Valerio Bernabo’, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti