ITALY V SAMOA: ITALY CAPTAIN Sergio Parisse will miss the Six Nations championship due to the knee injury he sustained in training this week, it was confirmed yesterday.
Stade Francais flanker Parisse suffered damage to his anterior cruciate ligament in training on Thursday ahead of today’s Test against Samoa and could miss up to six months.
A statement from the Italian Rugby Federation read: “The tests have confirmed the suspected diagnosis of a damaged anterior cruciate ligament, with a recovery period estimated at four to six months.”
National team doctor Roberto Pozzoni has not ruled out the 26-year-old undergoing surgery. “At the moment we don’t exclude the possibility to intervene surgically, with the time of recovery varying from 120 to 180 days,” he said.
Nick Mallett’s Italy begin the Six Nations in Ireland on February 6th.
New Zealand-born flanker Josh Sole has come in as blindside flanker with Alessandro Zanni moving from six to number eight for today’s game.
Hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini becomes captain and Antonio Pavanello takes Sole’s place on the bench.
Stadio Del Duca, Ascoli Today, 2pm (Irish time) Live on ESPN
