The World Rugby U20 Championship, the junior rugby world cup, begins on Saturday and at 4.30pm Roberto Santamaria’s Italy will take to the field in Cape Town against Ireland for their debut match. Ireland who won by one point in Cork a few months ago against the Italians, who are therefore looking for revenge.
News on the two benches, with Santamaria who took over from Massimo Brunello, while Ireland also replaced Richie Murphy with Willie Faloon. Brunello and Murphy who will meet again next season in the United Rugby Championship, one on the Zebre bench and the other on the Ulster bench. There are several confirmations among the Italians compared to the squad seen in the Six Nations categorybut also several new features that, hopefully, will make a difference.
“The match in Cork, lost by one point but played by our team at a very high level, remains in all of our minds as a good memory, but it certainly cannot be taken as a parameter to set the game on Saturday, which will have completely different dynamics. We approach the challenge with humility and awareness of our identity as a team and as a team, and if it is true that in our sport every match is a story in itself, it is even more true that a World Cup is truly something apart, where every small mistake is paid dearly during the tournament” Santamaria’s words on the eve.
ITALY – IRELAND
Italia: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Marco Scalabrin, 13 Federico Zanandrea, 12 Nicola Bozzo, 11 Lorenzo Elettri, 10 Martino Pucciariello, 9 Mattia Jimenez, 8 Jacopo Botturi, 7 Luca Bellucci, 6 Cesare Zucconi, Giacomo Milano, 4 Mattia Midena, 3 Davide Ascari, 2 Nicholas Gasperini, 1 Sergio Pelliccioli
On the bench: 16 Valerio Siciliano, 17 Francesco Gentile, 18 Federico Pisani, 19 Tommaso Redondi, 20 Nelson Casartelli, 21 Lorenzo Casilio, 22 Simone Brisighella, 23 Patrick De Villiers
Ireland: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Davy Colbert, 13 Finn Treacy, 12 Sam Berman, 11 Hugo McLaughlin, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Oliver Coffey, 8 Luke Murphy, 7 Max Flynn, 6 Sean Edogbo, 5 Evan O’Connell, 4 Alan Spicer, 3 Patreece Bell, 2 Danny Sheahan, 1 Jacob Boyd
In panchina: 16 Stephen Smyth, 17 Emmet Calvey, 18 Andrew Sparrow, 19 James McKillop, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Jake O’Riordan, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Hugh Gavin
