September 25, 2015
Rugby World Cup Lineups: Italy v Canada
Doug Coil
September 26, 2015
Italy v Canada, Pool D, Elland Road, Leeds, Kickoff 14:30 – 9:30 ET
Referee: George Clancy; Assistant Referee: Glen Jackson, Mike Fraser; TV Match Official: George Ayoub
Italy makes 4 changes from their loss against France. Props Rizzo and Cittadini swap places with Aguero and Castrogiovanni. Gonzalo Garcia replaced injured Andrea Masi,while Tommaso Benvenuti also joins the centers. Mauro Bergamasco has the opportunity to play in his 5th Rugby World Cup if he enters the match.
Canada makes 6 changes from their loss to Ireland. Tyler Aardon returns to number 8 to captain the side. Phil Mackenzie and Jamie Mackenzie, brothers, will both start against Italy. It will be the first time they play together in a Rugby World Cup match.
The last time these teams played each other was in 2012. Italy won by 9. Look for another close match with a similar result.
Italy Ranked 15th: HC Jacques Brunel Starters: 1 Michele Rizzo 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c) 3 Lorenzo Cittadini 4 Quintin Geldenhuys 5 Josh Furno 6 Alessandro Zanni 7 Francesco Minto 8 Samuela Vunisa 9 Edoardo Gori 10 Tommaso Allan 11 Giovanbattista Venditti 12 Gonzalo Garcia 13 Tommaso Benvenuti 14 Leonardo Sarto 15 Luke McLean Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon (H) 17 Matias Aguero (P) 18 Martin Castrogiovanni (P) 19 Marco Fuser (L) 20 Mauro Bergamasco (F) 21 Guglielmo Palazzani (SH) 22 Carlo Canna (FH) 23 Michele Campagnaro (C)
Canada Ranked 18th: HC Kiean Crowley Starters: 1 Hubert Buydens 2 Ray Barkwill 3 Doug Wooldridge 4 Jebb Sinclair 5 Jamie Cudmore 6 Nanyak Dala 7 John Moonlight 8 Tyler Ardron (c) 9 Jamie Mackenzie 10 Nathan Hirayama 11 DTH Van Der Merwe 12 Connor Braid 13 Ciaran Hearn 14 Phil Mackenzie 15 Matt Evans Replacements: 16 Aaron Carpenter (H) 17 Djustice Sears-Duru (P) 18 Andrew Tiedemann (P) 19 Evan Olmstead (L) 20 Kyle Gilmour (F) 21 Phil Mack (SH) 22 Conor Trainor (C) 23 Harry Jones (FB)