Ross Vintcent Named in Italian 23 to Face Ireland

Exeter Chiefs back row Ross Vintcent could make his Italian debut this weekend as he is named on the bench for the Azzuri's game against Ireland this Sunday.

Gonzalo Quesada, Head Coach of the Italian Men's National Rugby Team, has named the line-up that will face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Sunday in Round Two of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, a match that will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Uno and free-to-air on TV8.

It will be the 37th match between the two teams, the nineteenth in Ireland. The match will be entrusted to English referee Luke Pearce who will reach his 50th match officiated at international level.

Four changes to the starting XV from the team that took to the field against England at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on the first day of the tournament. Ange Capuozzo returns to the side in the number 15 jersey with Pani and Ioane confirmed on the wing. Brex and Menoncello will be the center pairing, while Stephen Varney will be in the control room together with Paolo Garbisi from the first minute.

In the back row, captain Lamaro will wear the number 8 jersey with Zuliani and Izekor – the latter on his first start – to complete the department. Ruzza and Niccolò Cannone will be the second rows, while Ceccarelli, Lucchesi and Fischetti will be in the front row.

On the bench ready to take over – along with debutant Ross Vintcent – Nicotera, Spagnolo, Zilocchi, Zambonin, Page-Relo, Mori and Allan.

"In Dublin the focus will be on our performance and try to take a new step in our growth against one of the strongest teams in the world. Two elements will be missing in the forward department compared to the previous match, but we have a young group that wants to emerge. We have a tough game ahead of us and it will be crucial to be able to stay lucid throughout the game," said Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada.

Italy:

15 Ange Capuozzo(Stade Toulousain, 16 caps)

14 Lorenzo Pani (Zebre Parma, 6 caps)

13 Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby, 31 caps)

12 Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)

11 Monty Ioane (Lyon 26 caps)

10 Paolo Garbisi (Montpellier, 32 caps)

9 Stephen Varney (Gloucester, 25 caps)

8 Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby, 34 caps)

7 Manuel Zuliani (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)

6 Alessandro Izekor (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)

5 Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby, 50 caps)

4 Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby, 37 caps) 

3 Pietro Ceccarelli (Perpignan, 32 caps)

2 Gianmarco Lucchesi (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)

1 Danilo Fischetti (Zebre Parma, 37 caps)

Replacements:

16 Giacomo Nicotera (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)

17 Mirco Spagnolo (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)

18 Giosuè Zilocchi (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)

19 Andrea Zambonin (Zebre Parma, 4 caps)

20 Ross Vintcent (Exeter Chiefs, debutant)

21 Martin Page-Relo (Lyon, 4 caps)

22 Tommaso Allan (Perpignan, 80 caps)

23 Federico Mori (Bayonne,14 caps)