Azzurri gets ministerial approval

Italy coach Pierre Berbizier made three changes to his line-up for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship match with Wales on a day when the Azzurri were upheld as an example for Italian sport by the country’s government.

After 12 months in which Italian soccer has been rocked by a series of scandals - overshadowing the national side’s World Cup win – the country’s minister of sport Giovanna Melandri claimed the rugby side represented all that was good in the sport.