Kiwi coach Kieran Crowley made four changes to Italy for the Pool A clash (5.45pm kick-off), a match that may be vital to the Azzurri’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages for the first time.
Paolo Garbisi will play inside centre for the first time in Italy colours in place of Luca Morisi, while Lorenzo Pani makes his World Cup debut at right wing as Capuozzo returns to fullback.
Garbisi’s brother Alessandro starts at scrumhalf in place of Gloucester’s Stephen Varney, while Niccolo Cannone replaces Dino Lamb at lock and Marco Riccioni is in the front row ahead of Simone Ferrari.
Perpignan’s Tommaso Allan started at fullback in Italy’s 52-8 win over Namibia in their tournament opener earlier this month but switches to flyhalf.
The Azzurri are paired with hosts France and New Zealand in Pool A and currently locked on five points with the All Blacks, who have played one game more.
Uruguay impressed in their only match so far, a 27-12 defeat to France.
Italy — 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Lorenzo Pani, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Paolo Garbisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Giovanni Pettinelli, 22 Alessandro Fusco, 23 Paolo Odogwu
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP
