Italy bolster ‘A’ squad for Uruguay match

After narrowly defeating Spain 13-11 in Madrid this past weekend, Italy ‘A’ coaches Alessandro Troncon and Andrea Marcato have called up several test veterans for the match against Uruguay in Padua on Sunday, November 14. Los Teros will first play against Romania this weekend and will then face the senior Azzurri on Saturday, November 20.

Most notable are four members of the Rugby World Cup 2019 squad – front row trio Andrea Lovotti, Federico Zani, and Tiziano Pasquali, and flanker Maxime Mbandà. Other capped players include second row Marco Lazzaroni, scrumhalf Marcello Violi, and outside back Jacopo Trulla.

Also added to the group is uncapped Benetton winger Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara. The Fiji native qualifies for Italy on residency. With only three loose forwards and one flyhalf named in the group, further additions are expected to the squad next week following Italy’s test against New Zealand on Saturday.

PROP
Filippo Alongi (Mogliano / Benetton)
Paolo Buonfiglio (Zebre)
Andrea Lovotti (Zebre) – 47 caps
Ion Neculai (Zebre)
Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton) – 21 caps

HOOKER
Massimo Ceciliani (Zebre)
Giacomo Nicotera (Rovigo / Benetton)
Federico Zani (Benetton) – 6 caps

SECOND ROW
Leonard Krumov (Zebre)
Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton) – 16 caps
Andrea Zambonin (Zebre)

BACK ROW
Lorenzo Cannone (Benetton)
Alessandro Izekor (Calvisano)
Maxime Mbandà (Zebre) – 29 caps

SCRUMHALF
Alessandro Garbisi (Mogliano / Benetton)
Nicolò Casilio (Zebre)
Marcello Violi (Zebre) – 21 caps

FLYHALF
Antonio Rizzi (Zebre)

CENTER
Filippo Drago (Mogliano / Benetton)
Enrico Lucchin (Zebre)
Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton)

OUTSIDE BACKS
Ange Capuozzo (Grenoble, FR)
Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara (Benetton)
Jacopo Trulla (Zebre) – 7 caps