Italy have named England-born debutants Paolo Odogwu and Dino Lamb in their starting XV for Saturday’s match against Ireland.
Former Sale and Wasps player Odogwu, who trained with his native country during Eddie Jones’ reign without being capped, has been selected on the right wing.
Harlequins’ ex-England Under-20 international Lamb will line up in the second row at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Azzurri head coach Kieran Crowley has picked a strong side for the Summer Nations Series clash, making nine personnel changes to the team which began last weekend’s 25-13 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield.
Paolo Garbisi returns at fly-half, pushing Tommaso Allan to full-back, and will partner recalled Gloucester scrum-half Stephen Varney.
Saracens prop Marco Riccioni is among the other players to come in, joining Giacomo Nicotera and Danilo Fischetti in a new front row, while Benetton lock Federico Ruzza continues as captain.
“The match against Ireland will be a new, important test in preparation for the World Cup,” Crowley told the Italian Rugby Federation’s website.
“Other players will have the chance to play a top-level international Test match facing the world’s first-ranked team. The focus will be on our performance.”
— Italrugby (@Federugby) August 3, 2023
Italy team to face Ireland in World Cup warm-up match
Forwards: 1 Danilo Fischetti (Zebre Parma), 2 Giacomo Nicotera (Benetton Rugby), 3 Marco Riccioni (Saracens), 4 Dino Lamb (Harlequins)*, 5 Federico Ruzza (Captain, Benetton Rugby), 6 Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby), 7 Manuel Zuliani (Benetton Rugby), 8 Toa Halafihi (Benetton Rugby)
Backs: 9 Stephen Varney (Gloucester Rugby), 10 Paolo Garbisi (Montpellier), 11 Montanna Ioane (Lione), 12 Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Rugby), 13 Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby), 14 Paolo Odogwu (Benetton Rugby)*, 15 Tommaso Allan (Perpignan)
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi (Zebre Parma), 17 Paolo Buonfiglio (Zebre Parma)*, 18 Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby), 19 Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby), 20 Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby), 21 Lorenzo Cannone (Benetton Rugby), 22 Alessandro Fusco (Zebre Parma), 23 Lorenzo Pani (Zebre Parma)
* Denotes uncapped player