No changes for Italy

Italy coach Nick Mallett has made no changes to the squad that beat Samoa in November for Saturday´s RBS 6 Nations opener against Ireland at Croke Park.

The Azzurri won the final Test of last year against the Samoans, 24-6, to ended a 13-match winless streak.

Bayonne fly-half Craig Gower has recovered from a knee injury and has been handed the number 10 role while Benetton Treviso’s Alessandro Zanni will replace injured captain Sergio Parisse at number 8.

Parisse is out for the entire tournament with a knee injury, so Leonardo Ghiraldini will serve as captain.

Mallett has included uncapped Rovigo fly-half Riccardo Bocchino in the squad.

The Italians go into the tournament looking to improve after wooden-spoon performances in 2008 and 2009.

They have won just one of their last 10 games in the Six Nations, a 23-20 victory over Scotland in Rome nearly two years ago.

TEAM:

L McLean (Benetton Treviso); K Robertson (Viadana), G Canale (Clermont-Aubergne), G Garcia (Benetton Treviso), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais); C Gower (Bayonne), T Tebaldi (Gran Parma); S Perugini (Bayonne), L Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), C Del Fava (Viadana), Q Geldenhuys (Viadana), J Sole (Viadana), Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), A Zanni (Benetton Treviso)

Replacements: F Ongaro (Saracens), M Aguero (Saracens), M Bortolami (Gloucester), P Derbyshire (Petrarca Padova), S Picone (Treviso), R Bocchino (Rovigo), A Masi (Racing Metro Paris)