Injury-Hit Italy Turn to 142kg Giant Opoku-Gyamfi for Springboks Test in Turin

Italy will face world champions South Africa in Turin on Saturday with a side reshaped by a lengthy injury list, head coach Gonzalo Quesada confirmed when he named his team on Thursday. Captain Michele Lamaro, Sebastian Negri, Marco Riccioni, Andrea Zambonin and Tommaso Menoncello are all unavailable for the Nations Championship clash, while Juan Ignacio Brex is also missing from midfield. Samuele Locatelli will make his Test debut at openside flanker, joining Lorenzo Cannone and Alessandro Ortombina in the back row, and hooker Giacomo Nicotera will captain the side for only the second time. Paolo Garbisi and Alessandro Fusco form the half-back pairing, with Leonardo Marin and Paolo Odogwu in the centres, and Monty Ioane will win his 50th cap on the left wing, with Ange Capuozzo on the right and Mirko Belloni at full-back. There is considerable size on the bench, where 20-year-old Bath forward Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi is included. The 142kg forward has only one previous Test appearance, against Chile last year, and now gets another chance to impress against the Springboks. Saturday's fixture will be the 20th meeting between the nations and the second in succession staged in Turin. Simone Ferrari and Tommaso Allan are the only two survivors in the matchday squad from Italy's famous victory over South Africa in Florence in 2016. Italy then face Argentina in Genoa and Fiji in Udine before travelling to Twickenham for the Nations Championship Finals Weekend later this month.