Campo starts against Scotland

By Steve Grace
10/6/17

Exeter Chiefs star Michele Campagnaro will start for Italy in their clash with Scotland in Singapore today.

Fresh from helping the Devon club to lift their first-ever Aviva Premiership title, the all-action back will line-up alongside Tommaso Boni in the midfield for the Azzurri.

The Scotland starting side features nine changes (six forwards, three backs) to that which defeated the Azzurri 29-0 in the final match of the 2017 Six Nations, two of which replace the three absentees – Stuart Hogg, Greig Laidlaw and Tommy Seymour – currently on duty with the British and Irish Lions.

Seymour and Hogg’s places are taken by Damien Hoyland (wing) and Duncan Taylor (full-back), with the latter making a welcome return to the national team for the first time since last year’s summer tour to Japan.

Most eyes of course will be on Gregor Townsend, the new Scotland head coach taking over from Vern Cotter. Expectations are high for Townsend having guided Glasgow to a PRO12 title in 2015 followed by the Scottish side becoming an established force in the Champions Cup, particualrly this season.

Hogg, Seymour and Laidlaw might be away with the Lions but there are plenty of welcome returnees, the inclusion of WP Nel with the impressive Zander Fagerson showing plenty of depth in the Scottish front row.

“We’re delighted to see WP Nel back fit for Scotland and full of confidence after playing a game for the Barbarians a couple of weeks back,” Townsend said.

“Ben Toolis hasn’t been involved in a while and has earned the chance to start in the second-row, while Josh [Strauss] is back fit and raring to go. Similarly John Hardie has made a full recovery and played very well at the end of the season for Edinburgh.”

As for Italy, life for Conor O’Shea in his first season was certainly up and down, having started well with those wins over the USA and Canada and of course South Africa last November.

The overhaul of Italian rugby from a national perspective regarding the country’s young talent and getting the right structure is a long-term project, but for O’Shea the priority at the top remains to make Italy competitive again.

Defence was Italy’s worst enemy in the Six Nations, conceding 22 tries, with O’Shea desperate for signs of improvement in that area and the emergence of key players not named Sergio Parisse. The Italian captain has been rested for the June Tests, and is not getting any younger at 33, with O’Shea on the lookout for new leaders and attacking threats.

 

O'Shea said: “We are a good rugby team, we are working to build our future and we are making the necessary changes, but we know we are judged by what we do on the field, not by what we leave in ten years. But, today, we both are and can be much more competitive than many people believe.”

 

Italy: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori (c), 8 Robert Julian Barbieri, 7 Maxime Mata Mbanda, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti

Replacements: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Andries van Schalkwyk, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Marcello Violi, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Scotland: 15 Duncan Taylor, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Dell

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Ryan Wilson, 22 Henry Pyrgos, 23 Peter Horne

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)