Ireland will face an experienced Italy outfit when they begin their Six Nations campaign in Rome on Saturday.
The Azzurri, led by Sergio Parisse, will boast 660 caps in their line-up, which shows two changes from the side which finished their autumn campaign with a 22-6 defeat by South Africa.
George Fabio Biagi replaces the injured Quintin Geldenhuys in the second row, while Francesco Minto comes in for Samuela Vunisa at openside flanker.
New Zeland-born Kelly Haimona will continue at out-half after playing in all three of their November Internationals.
#Italrugby il XV di #Brunel per il debutto nel @rbs_6_nations di sabato a Roma contro @IrishRugby #ITAvIRL pic.twitter.com/TzPcWb3akJ
— Italrugby (@Federugby) February 5, 2015
"Ireland are the tournament favourites," Italy coach Jacques Brunel said, "but two years ago we beat them and we hope to have the right attitude this time. And this is the start of a tournament, so anything can happen.
"Two years ago we dominated the game, last year it was impossible to avoid their domination when all the statistics, like possession and tackles, were so negative. Something has to change and we will try to do so."
ITALY XV (v Ireland): 15 Andrea Masi; 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Luke McLean; 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori; 1 Matias Aguero, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni; 4 Josh Furno, 5 George Fabio Biagi; 6 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Francesco Minto, 8 Sergio Parisse.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Robert Barbini, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
