Italy

Best ever finish: 4th (2007, 2013)

Grand slams: 0

last year's finish: 5th

Head coach: Gonzale Quesada

Captain: Michele Lamaro

Expectation: Win 2 games

Prediction: 5th

Italy come into this tournament ready to cause some more upsets but they'll have to do it in the absence of some big names. Ange Capuozzo and Tomasso Allen are out and leave some big gaps in the Italian back 3. This disappointment was added to with a late injury to Edoardo Todaro in the build up to the tournament. The young winger, who has burst onto the scene with Northampton this season, has suffered an ACL injury and faces a long spell on the sidelines. However, there is still plenty of optimism surrounding this team.

Let's start with the positives. Italy have a good front row which, unlike Ireland's and England's, is healthy. Behind them, Italy also have more good quality to start and come off the bench. This is an Italy team that is now built to last for the full 80 minutes with very little drop in quality in the final period. Michele Lamaro will captain the team and he'll be surrounded by some serious quality, even without Negri in the team. 

The other big positive for Italy comes at scrum-half. Over the past couple of years it has been a real problem position for the Azzurri but Stephen Varney has been in fantastic form for Exeter. If he can bring that form to the international arena, Italy will be a much stronger team. Page-Relo will likely back him up but Varney should start. The centre partnership of Brex and Menoncello has become the key pairing for this Italian team and is the anchor for this back line. They, along with Varney, could be needed to stabilise an otherwise unpredictable back line.

Paolo Garbisi will obviously be the starting fly-half but his form has been somewhat erratic of late. An in-form Garbisi could transform this side but a couple of poor performances could see Italy staring down the barrel of another wooden spoon. There is also a level of concern about the back 3. Tomasso Allen has been a stabilising force for Italy and was also the teams best kicker. Garbisi will have to step up in his absence with Pani likely filling in at fullback. Monty Ioane should remain on the left wing but the other winger will be one of Lynagh or Gallagher. 

In summary, this is a strong Italy side but it could lack a little bit of flair in the key moments to win tight games. They will be competitive across the board, but I'm not convinced they can convert those close games into wins.

Squad

LHP: Danilo Fischetti, Mirco Spagnolo

Hooker: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Pablo Dimcheff, Giacomo Nicotera

THP: Simone Ferrari, Marco Riccioni, Muhamed Hasa

Lock: Niccolo Cannone, Ricardo Favretto, Federico Ruzza, Andrea Zambonin

Back row: Lorenzo Cannone, Alessandro Izekor, Michele Lamaro(C), Samuele Locatelli, David Odiase, Manuel Zuliani

Scrum-half: Alessandro Fusco, Martin Page-Relo, Stephen Varney

Fly-half: Paolo Garbisi, Giacomo Da Re

Centre: Ignacio Brex, Leonardo Marin, Damiano Mazza, Tommaso Menoncello, Paolo Odogwu

Back 3: Matt Gallagher, Monty Ioane, Louis Lynagh, Lorenzo Pani

Potential 23-man squad

1.Danilo Fischetti 2.Giacomo Nicotera 3.Marco Riccioni 4.Niccolo Cannone 5.Andrea Zambonin

6.Manuel Zuliani 7.Michele Lamaro(C) 8.Lorenzo Cannone 9.Stephen Varney 10.Paolo Garbisi

11.Monty Ioane 12.Tommaso Menoncello 13.Ignacio Brex 14.Louis Lynagh 15.Lorenzo Pani

Bench

16.Tommaso Di Bartolomeo 17.Mirco Spagnolo 18.Simone Ferrari 19.Federico Ruzza

20.Alessandro Izekor 21.David Odiase 22.Martin Page-Relo 23.Paolo Odogwu