Italy coach Jacques Brunel made only one change from the side that started in the 23-18 triumph over France last week for the Azzurri’s second Six Nations challenge on Saturday against Scotland.
Gonzalo Canale, who plays club rugby for La Rochelle in France, replaces Alberto Sgarbi at inside centre after the latter picked up an injury knock.
Remarkably, it is the only change from the team that battled through a bruising and entertaining encounter against France at the Olympic Stadium to record a famous victory in Rome.
Brunel has kept faith with the half-back pairing of Luciano Orquera and Tobias Botes, the former having kicked 10 points in the France victory before Kris Burton came off the bench to seal the win with a 68th-minute drop goal.
Burton once again starts on the bench for the Azzurri, who will travel to Murrayfield hoping to notch their third successive win in the tournament having capped last year’s edition with victory over Scotland.
Memories of that defeat, which left Scotland in sixth and last place with the wooden spoon, are likely to spur on the Scots, Brunel believes.
“When Scotland saw the fixtures list for this season’s tournament they said: this year we have to beat Italy to avoid the wooden spoon,” Brunel told www.federugby.it.
Brunel said the lack of changes in the team was a compliment to how his side played last week on their way to a deserved win – their second against France in the tournament in three years.
“I could have made more changes just to freshen up the group, but I didn’t feel the need.
“Last week the team played exactly how I wanted them to play so we’re looking for continuity. But it will be hard, and won’t be made easier by the fast we’re away from home.”
A win against Scotland, who lost 38-18 to England at Twickenham last weekend, would further raise Italy’s growing profile in Europe.
Edinburgh could also be a memorable occasion for loose-head prop Andrea Lo Cicero, who will pick up his 100th Italy cap in the Scottish capital to sit just one behind the 101-cap record of Alessandro Troncon.
Team for Scotland match (15-1):
Andrea Masi (Wasps/ENG); Giovanbattista Venditti (Zebre), Tommaso Benvenuti (Treviso), Gonzalo Canale (La Rochelle/FRA), Luke McLean (Treviso); Luciano Orquera (Zebre), Tobias Botes (Treviso); Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais/FRA – capt), Simone Favaro (Treviso), Alessandro Zanni (Treviso), Francesco Minto (Treviso), Quintin Geldenhuys (Zebre), Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester/ENG), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Treviso), Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing Metro/FRA)
Replacements: Davide Giazzon (Zebre), Alberto De Marchi (Treviso), Lorenzo Cittadini (Treviso), Antonio Pavanello (Treviso), Paul Derbyshire (Treviso), Edoardo Gori (Treviso), Kristopher Burton (Treviso), Gonzalo Garcia (Zebre)