Van Schalkwyk to front Boks

Lock Dries van Schalkwyk has been named in Italy's starting lineup to face the Springboks in Florence on Saturday.

Coach Conor O'Shea tweaked his run-on XV with four personnel changes, of which two were injury enforced.

Hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini and prop Andrea Lovotti were ruled out through injury, with Ornel Gega and Sami Panico coming in as their replacements. Flank Francesco Minto starts ahead of Maxime Mbanda and in the backline, Giovanbattista Venditti starts out on the wing ahead of Angelo Esposito.

Loose forward Braam Steyn, from Cradock in the Eastern Cape, was named among the reserves.

Italy – 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Giorgio Bronzini, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Andries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Sami Panico.
Subs: 16 Tommaso D’Apice, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 George Fabio Biagi, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Tommaso Boni.

Photo: Tomas Samson/Getty Images

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