Mallett gambles on Masi

Italy coach Nick Mallett has gambled on his first selection after naming centre Andrea Masi at fly-half to face Ireland on Saturday.

Azzurri coach takes a risk at fly-half to take on Ireland

Italy coach Nick Mallett has gambled on his first selection after naming centre Andrea Masi at fly-half to face Ireland on Saturday. With Ramiro Pez left out of the squad and Roland de Marigny injured, Mallett has opted to go for Masi in the No.10 jersey - especially as his other option is the inexperienced Andrea Marcato. And former South African chief Mallett believes that his risk could pay dividends for the Azzurri. He said: "We've got to start somewhere. The fly-half position has been a problem in the past. "The sooner I see Masi playing the better and the sooner he will improve. He'll be there for the next three games and hopefully will be there for the whole Six Nations.

Variety

"I'm trying to introduce more variety, to do that I need a back line that can be dangerous and can threaten. I've picked a number 10 that can do that. You can't always go for safety first." Mallett has named Pietro Travagli at scrum-half with the Parma No.9 returning to the line for the first time since 2004. Mallett is without a trio of stars with Simon Picone, Matteo Pratichetti and Marco Bortolami all injured. Italy: 15 David Bortolussi (Montpellier), 14 Kaine Robertson (Viadana), 13 Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), 12 Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), 11 Pablo Canavosio (Castres), 10 Andrea Masi (Biarritz), 9 Pietro Travagli (Overmach Parma), 8 Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais, captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), 6 Josh Sole (Viadana), 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Ulster), 4 Santiago Dellapé (Biarritz), 2 Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester), 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Calvisano), 1 Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing-Metro).
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia (Racing-Metro), 17 Salvatore Perugini (Stade Toulousain), 18 Carlos Nieto (Gloucester), 19 Tommaso Reato (Rovigo), 20 Alessandro Zanni (Calvisano), 21 Andrea Marcato (Treviso), 22 Ezio Galon (Overmach Parma).