The 25-year-old Zebre winger Pierre Bruno will make his Six Nations debut for Italy after being named on the wing by Kieran Crowley for his side's trip to Dublin to face Ireland.
Bruno won his sole previous cap in Italy’s 17-10 Autumn Series victory over Uruguay, when scoring a try. He lines up in a back three with Edoardo Padovani and Monty Ioane, who both started Italy’s 33-0 defeat to England in Rome last time out, as Federico Mori drops out of the squad.
Crowley has also made a change to the Azzurri midfield, with Juan Ignacio Brex joined by Leonardo Marin as Marco Zanon moves to the bench.
Stephen Varney and Paolo Garbisi continue their halfback pairing, while Crowley has made just the one change up front.
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Giovanni Pettinelli, who captained Italy A against Spain in October, comes into the backrow, joining skipper Michele Lamaro and No.8 Toa Halafihi, with Braam Steyn dropping to the bench.
The tight five remains unchanged, with Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi and Pietro Ceccarelli packing down ahead of Niccolo Cannone and Federico Ruzza.
“We have prepared the next meeting by focusing on the aspects of the game that did not satisfy us in the first two games,” said Crowley.
“We face the next commitment with energy and the desire to improve. It will be a physically tough match against one of the strongest teams in the world.”
ITALY: Edoardo Padovani; Pierre Bruno, Juan Ignacio Brex, Leonardo Marin, Montanna Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fishetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Pietro Ceccarelli; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Giovanni Pettinelli, Michele Lamaro (Capt), Toa Halafihi.
Replacements: Epalahame Faiva, Ivan Nemer, Tiziano Pasquali, David Sisi, Manuel Zuliani, Abraham Steyn, Alessandro Fusco, Marco Zanon.
