Italy hands young backs 1st starts vs Pumas

MILAN (AP) Young backs Tommaso Allan and Michele Campagnaro will make their first starts for Italy against a beleaguered Argentina on Saturday in what coach Jacques Brunel regards as a must-win match.

This month has seen Italy lose to Australia 50-20 before struggling to a 37-31 victory over an ill-disciplined Fiji side, which at one point was reduced to 11 players.

"We need a good performance and a win," Brunel said. "If we lose we can't talk about a positive autumn series.

"I want to look at the potential of all the players because we have 20 matches until the 2015 World Cup and we can't wait too long to test out the youngsters. We have to deepen our squad and it's the moment to do so."

Allan, a former Scotland Under-20 player, and Campagnaro are both 20.

Allan has come from the reserves to swap with Luciano Orquera at flyhalf, while Campagnaro is at outside center, with veteran Gonzalo Canale moving in one position to replace Luca Morisi, who had his spleen removed following a heavy tackle in the Fiji match last Saturday.

Captain Sergio Parisse and prop Martin Castrogiovanni will make their 101st appearances, equalling retired scrumhalf Alessandro Troncon. The duo will be two behind retired prop Andrea Lo Cicero's record of 103.

In trying to end its worst losing run, matched by eight straight defeats to 1936, Argentina has made five changes, some of them reluctantly. First-choice centers Marcelo Bosch and Santiago Fernandez and lock Patricio Albacete were released due to an agreement between their European clubs and Argentina.

Left wing Horacio Agulla will in at outside center, while Gabriel Ascarate replaced Fernandez in an untried midfield partnership. Mariano Galarza, who was released to play for his English last weekend, was back for Albacate.

"Against Argentina, we have to avoid at all costs going behind in the points," Brunel said. "That's imperative because the South Americans are masters in managing games. We have to keep control of play. They are a side which has a great capacity to fight and they have a lot of individual talents."

The match is dedicated to Pope Francis, and the squads will have a private meeting with the Argentine-born pope on Friday.

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Lineups:

Italy: Luke McLean, Giovambattista Venditti, Michele Campagnaro, Gonzalo Canale, Tommaso Iannone, Tommaso Allan, Edoardo Gori; Sergio Parisse (captain), Robert Barbieri, Alessandro Zanni, Valerio Bernabo, Quintin Geldenhuys, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Michele Rizzo. Reserves: Davide Giazzon, Matias Aguero, Lorenzo Cittadini, Marco Bortolami, Josh Furno, Tobias Botes, Luciano Orquera, Tommaso Benvenuti.

Argentina: Joaquin Tuculet, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, Horacio Agulla, Gabriel Ascarate, Juan Imhoff, Nicholas Sanchez, Martin Landajo; Benjamin Macome, Julio Farias Cabello, Juan Manuel Leguizamon (captain), Mariano Galarza, Manuel Carizza, Maximiliano Bustos, Eusebio Giunazu, Marcos Ayerza. Reserves: Santiago Iglesias Valdez, Nahuel Lobo, Matias Diaz, Tomas Lavanini, Pablo Matera, Tomas Cubelli, Javier Rojas, Santiago Cordero.