All change for Italy

Published: Friday, 16. September, 2011 in category Northern Hemishere
Benvenuti: Praised by Mallett

Captain Sergio Parisse, full-back Andrew Masi and Tommaso Benvenuti all played in the 32-6 loss to Australia.

Benvenuti, though, will switch from wing to outside centre for Tuesday's match against the Bears in Nelson - with Mallett full of praise of the 20-year-old.

"He is our fastest player and is as comfortable in the centres as he is on the wing," Mallett said.

"He has played there a lot for Treviso, notably against Leicester and Perpignan, and knows what to do there. He is important to our decision-making."

Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini. Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Cornelius van Zyl, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Alberto Sgarbi.