Vintcent Involved in Italy 23 for Wales Game

Ross Vintcent has been named in the Italian matchday 23 to face Wales in the final round of the Guinness Six Nations this weekend.

Gonzalo Quesada, Head Coach of the Italian Men's National Rugby Team, has named his official line-up that will face Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday 16 March at 14:15 local time in the fifth and final round of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, a match that will be broadcast live on Sky Sport 1 and free-to-air on TV8.

It will be the 33rd meeting between the two teams, the eighteenth played in Wales and the sixteenth in Cardiff, with the last meeting in the Welsh capital smiling on the Azzurri. The match is entrusted to the French referee Mathieu Raynal.

An unprecedented back three formed by Pani – returning to the starting XV after the first two rounds of the Six Nations – Lynagh and Ioane. The centre pairing is confirmed as Brex and Menoncello, while the keys to the midfield will be entrusted to Paolo Garbisi and Varney, the latter scoring a try against Scotland in the previous round won by Italy 31-29.

In the back row Lorenzo Cannone returns to wear the number 8 jersey with captain Lamaro and Negri to complete the department. Niccolò Cannone and Ruzza will be in the second row, while Ferrari, Nicotera and Fischetti will be in the front row.

Lucchesi, Spagnolo, Zilocchi, Zambonin, Vintcent, Zuliani, Page-Relo and Marin are ready to take over from the bench.

Ange Capuzzo will be missing: the Italian full-back, after undergoing instrumental examinations in the week after the match played against Scotland, suffered a fracture of the intermediate phalanx of the third finger of the left hand that makes him available for the match against Wales.

Italy:

15 Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 7 caps)

14 Louis LYNAGH (Harlequins, 1 cap)

13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 34 caps)

12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)

11 Monty IOANE (Lyon 29 caps)

10 Paolo GARBISI (Toulon, 35 caps)

9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester, 28 caps)

8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)

7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 37 caps) – cap

6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 54 caps)

5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 53 caps)

4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps)

3 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 52 caps)

2 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 22 caps)

1 Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 40 caps)

Replacements:

16 Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)

17 Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, 4 caps)

18 Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps)

19 Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 7 caps)

20 Ross VINTCENT (Exeter, 3 caps)

21 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps)

22 Martin PAGE-RELO (Lyon, 7 caps)

23 Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)