Italy make three changes

Rome - Italy coach Jacques Brunel on Thursday made three changes from the side that recently gave England a scare ahead of Saturday's final Six Nations clash against Ireland at the Olympic Stadium.

Veteran prop Martin Castrogiovanni has been forced out with a thigh injury suffered in the 18-11 Twickenham reverse and is replaced by Leonardo Cittadini.

Simone Favaro comes in at openside flanker for Robert Barbieri while Andrea Lo Cicero replaces Alberto De Marchi at loosehead prop.

De Marchi is the only player from those changes who returns to the replacements bench.

Italy, who stunned France in Rome on their opening Six Nations match this year, sit second from bottom of the table with two points, one more than Les Bleus.

Ireland, meanwhile, have fared barely any better and have only one more point than Italy ahead of a match which, it is rumoured, could decide the future of head coach Declan Kidney.

Teams:

Italy:

15-Andrea Masi, 14-Giovanbattista Venditti, 13-Gonzalo Canale, 12-Gonzalo Garcia, 11-Luke McLean, 10-Luciano Orquera, 9-Edoardo Gori, 8-Sergio Parisse, 7-Simone Favaro, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 5-Joshua Furno, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 3-Lorenzo Cittadini, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1-Andrea Lo Cicero.

Substitutes: 16-Davide Giazzon, 17-Michele Rizzo, 18-Alberto De Marchi, 19-Antonio Pavanello, 20-Francesco Minto, 21-Paul Derbyshire, 22-Tobias Botes, 23-Tommaso Benvenuti.

Ireland:

15-Rob Kearney, 14-Craig Gilroy, 13-Brian O'Driscoll, 12-Luke Marshall, 11-Keith Earls, 10-Jonathan Sexton, 9-Conor Murray, 8-Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7-Sean O'Brien, 6-Peter O'Mahony, 5-Donnacha Ryan, 4-Mike McCarthy, 3-Mike Ross, 2-Rory Best, 1-Cian Healy

Substitutes: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-David Kilcoyne, 18-Stephen Archer, 19-Devin Toner, 20-Iain Henderson, 21-Paul Marshall, 22-Paddy Jackson, 23-Luke Fitzgerald.