Italian coach Jacques Brunel has made three changes from the team that lost to England at Twickenham for the Six Nations match against Ireland in Rome on Saturday.
Openside flanker Simone Favaro has returned to the starting line-up. Lorenzo Cittadini replaces the injured prop Martin Castrogiovanni while on the other side of the frontrow loosehead Andrea Lo Cicero will collect a record 103rd cap after being preferred to Alberto De Marchi.
Italy, who lost 18-11 to England, are fifth in the table and hope to both avoid the wooden spoon by beating fourth-placed Ireland for the first time in the Six Nations.
Favaro takes the place of Robert Barbieri, who picked up a knock at Twickenham, and Castrogiovanni is still recovering from the muscle strain which forced him off during the England game.
Italy: Andrea Masi; Giovanbattista Venditti, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Luke McLean; Luciano Orquera, Edoardo Gori; Andrea Lo Cicero, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Lorenzo Cittadini; Quintin Geldenhuys, Joshua Furno; Alessandro Zanni, Simone Favaro, Sergio Parisse. Replacements: D Giazzon, M Rizzo, A De Marchi, A Pavanello, F Minto, P Derbyshire, T Botes, T Benvenuti.
