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Rome - Italy coach Nick Mallett has made four changes to his team to face England at Twickenham in the Six Nations on Saturday.
Scrumhalf Edoardo Gori and New Zealand-born flank Josh Sole miss the game with injury and are replaced by Pablo Canavosio and Valerio Bernabo respectively.
The other two switches see Australia-born flyhalf Kris Burton drop to the bench with Luciano Orquera replacing him and South African-born lock Carlo Del Fava coming in for Santiago Dellape.
Italy team manager Luigi Troiani explained that Orquera's selection ahead of Burton was to be expected.
"Orquera should also have started against Ireland but he was coming back from an injury in November and it was he himself who said he didn't feel quite ready, so now the coach is giving him his chance," he said.
Last week England began their Six Nations campaign with an impressive 26-19 success in Wales while Italy suffered a last-gasp 13-11 defeat at home to Ireland.
And prop Martin Castrogiovanni, who plays his club rugby in England with Leicester Tigers, believes this match will be as tough as they come for the Azzurri.
"Of course it will be a very tough game, we saw against Wales that they're in great form and I think they'll fight for the title with France this year," he said.
"But we'll go there knowing we played very well (against Ireland) and knowing that we have to do just as well this time or we'll risk what happened already in the past when having produced a good first game we then got thumped in the second.
"So we have to do what we know how to do, go on the pitch with heart and desire and try to play a great game."
But he insists Italy won't be overawed by England.
"We don't go on the pitch thinking: they're England, they're a great team and we're at Twickenham.
"We hope to play our game and give our best and if they're better than us than so be it.
"We go on the pitch to win and we don't respect anyone too much."
For Castro, as he is known in Italy, it's an extra special game as he will be lining up against a number of team-mates and friends.
"There's Toby (Flood), Youngsy (Ben Youngs), Louis Deacon and Dan Cole so of course it will be a special game for me and there will be a lot of mickey taking before and after the game, in fact it's already started," he said.
"But I'm sure if we do what we know how to do then we can have a great game.
"Of all the teams in the Six Nations, England are the ones we respect the most, I'm not saying we fear them but we do respect them from a physical aspect and we know it will be a great battle."
Two years ago in the corresponding fixture at Twickenham, Mallett made a disastrous decision to play Stade Francais flanker Mauro Bergamasco, currently injured, at scrumhalf.
Bergamasco produced an error-strewn display before being hauled off at half-time with the game already lost as England romped to a 36-11 victory.
Last season's game in Rome was a lot closer with the visitors edging it 17-12.
Italy have never beaten England in 16 previous encounters including 11 in the Six Nations.
Teams:
England:
15. Ben Foden, 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Mike Tindall (captain), 12. Shontayne Hape, 11. Mark Cueto, 10. Toby Flood, 9. Ben Youngs, 8. Nick Easter, 7. James Haskell, 6. Tom Wood, 5. Tom Palmer, 4. Louis Deacon, 3. Dan Cole, 2. Dylan Hartley, 1. Andrew Sheridan
Substitutes: 16. David Wilson, 17. Henre Fourie, 18. Danny Care, 19. Jonny Wilkinson, 20. Steve Thompson, 21. Simon Shaw, 22. Matt Banahan
Italy
15. Luke McLean, 14. Andrea Masi, 13. Gonzalo Canale, 12. Alberto Sgarbi, 11. Mirco Bergamasco, 10. Luciano Orquera, 9. Pablo Canavosio, 8. Sergio Parisse (captain), 7. Alessandro Zanni, 6. Valerio Bernabo, 5. Quintin Geldenhuys, 4. Carlo Del Fava, 3. Martin Castrogiovanni, 2. Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1. Salvatore Perugini
Substitutes: 16. Fabio Ongaro, 17. Andrea Lo Cicero, 18. Santiago Dellape, 19. Robert Barbieri, 20. Fabio Semenzato, 21. Kris Burton, 22. Gonzalo Garcia
Scrumhalf Edoardo Gori and New Zealand-born flank Josh Sole miss the game with injury and are replaced by Pablo Canavosio and Valerio Bernabo respectively.
The other two switches see Australia-born flyhalf Kris Burton drop to the bench with Luciano Orquera replacing him and South African-born lock Carlo Del Fava coming in for Santiago Dellape.
Italy team manager Luigi Troiani explained that Orquera's selection ahead of Burton was to be expected.
"Orquera should also have started against Ireland but he was coming back from an injury in November and it was he himself who said he didn't feel quite ready, so now the coach is giving him his chance," he said.
Last week England began their Six Nations campaign with an impressive 26-19 success in Wales while Italy suffered a last-gasp 13-11 defeat at home to Ireland.
And prop Martin Castrogiovanni, who plays his club rugby in England with Leicester Tigers, believes this match will be as tough as they come for the Azzurri.
"Of course it will be a very tough game, we saw against Wales that they're in great form and I think they'll fight for the title with France this year," he said.
"But we'll go there knowing we played very well (against Ireland) and knowing that we have to do just as well this time or we'll risk what happened already in the past when having produced a good first game we then got thumped in the second.
"So we have to do what we know how to do, go on the pitch with heart and desire and try to play a great game."
But he insists Italy won't be overawed by England.
"We don't go on the pitch thinking: they're England, they're a great team and we're at Twickenham.
"We hope to play our game and give our best and if they're better than us than so be it.
"We go on the pitch to win and we don't respect anyone too much."
For Castro, as he is known in Italy, it's an extra special game as he will be lining up against a number of team-mates and friends.
"There's Toby (Flood), Youngsy (Ben Youngs), Louis Deacon and Dan Cole so of course it will be a special game for me and there will be a lot of mickey taking before and after the game, in fact it's already started," he said.
"But I'm sure if we do what we know how to do then we can have a great game.
"Of all the teams in the Six Nations, England are the ones we respect the most, I'm not saying we fear them but we do respect them from a physical aspect and we know it will be a great battle."
Two years ago in the corresponding fixture at Twickenham, Mallett made a disastrous decision to play Stade Francais flanker Mauro Bergamasco, currently injured, at scrumhalf.
Bergamasco produced an error-strewn display before being hauled off at half-time with the game already lost as England romped to a 36-11 victory.
Last season's game in Rome was a lot closer with the visitors edging it 17-12.
Italy have never beaten England in 16 previous encounters including 11 in the Six Nations.
Teams:
England:
15. Ben Foden, 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Mike Tindall (captain), 12. Shontayne Hape, 11. Mark Cueto, 10. Toby Flood, 9. Ben Youngs, 8. Nick Easter, 7. James Haskell, 6. Tom Wood, 5. Tom Palmer, 4. Louis Deacon, 3. Dan Cole, 2. Dylan Hartley, 1. Andrew Sheridan
Substitutes: 16. David Wilson, 17. Henre Fourie, 18. Danny Care, 19. Jonny Wilkinson, 20. Steve Thompson, 21. Simon Shaw, 22. Matt Banahan
Italy
15. Luke McLean, 14. Andrea Masi, 13. Gonzalo Canale, 12. Alberto Sgarbi, 11. Mirco Bergamasco, 10. Luciano Orquera, 9. Pablo Canavosio, 8. Sergio Parisse (captain), 7. Alessandro Zanni, 6. Valerio Bernabo, 5. Quintin Geldenhuys, 4. Carlo Del Fava, 3. Martin Castrogiovanni, 2. Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1. Salvatore Perugini
Substitutes: 16. Fabio Ongaro, 17. Andrea Lo Cicero, 18. Santiago Dellape, 19. Robert Barbieri, 20. Fabio Semenzato, 21. Kris Burton, 22. Gonzalo Garcia
