First start at 10: Tobias Botes

Share this article:

Italy drop Burton for Botes

Italy have named South African-born Treviso scrum-half Tobias Botes at pivot for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Ireland in Dublin.

Coach Jacques Brunel has made four changes to the team who lost to England with Botes replacing Kristopher Burton - who drops to the bench - at fly-half.

It will be Botes’s first appreanance in the Azzurri number 10 jersey after coming off the bench twice during this year’s tournament.

Clermont centre Gonzalo Canale also drops to the bench with Alberto Sgarbi returning to the starting XV.

The other two changes are in the pack where Leicester prop Martin Castrogiovanni, who cracked a rib in the narrow loss England in Rome, is replaced Lorenzo Cittadini.

Treviso’s Michele Rizzo is the final change, taking over from Andrea Lo Cicero at loosehead.

Italy have never won in a Six Nations match in Dublin.

Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Tobias Botes, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D’Apice, 17 Fabio Staibano, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Gonzalo Canale