ITALY’S HEAD COACH Nick Mallett has handed the No 10 shirt to Benetton Treviso’s Kristopher Burton for his debut in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Ireland at Rome’s Flaminio Stadium.
The Australia-born fly-half replaces Craig Gower, who is out for the entire tournament with a knee injury.
Burton’s clubmate Alessandro Zanni replaces veteran Mauro Bergamasco at seven. Bergamasco is out of the Six Nations having suffered a shoulder injury back in November.
Edoardo Gori starts at scrum-half after an impressive game against Fiji last autumn. The Azzurri – who are usually at their strongest in the first game - will be boosted by the return of Sergio Parisse.
The captian missed last year’s Six Nations with a serious knee injury and watched as Italy suffered four defeats in five games.
Italy team to play Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations Championship, Stadio Flaminio, Rome on Saturday, 3:30pm:
L McLean; A Masi, G Canale, A Sgarbi, M Bergamasco; K Burton, E Gori; S Perugini, L Ghiraldini, M Castrogiovanni, S Dellape, Q Geldenhuys, J Sole, A Zanni, S Parisse (capt).
Replacements: F Ongaro, A Lo Cicero, C Del Fava, V Bernabo, P Canavosio, L Orquera, G Garcia.
