Azzurri turn to Botes

Italy coach Jacques Brunel has handed Treviso's Tobias Botes his first start against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Four changes to side beaten by England in Rome

Italy coach Jacques Brunel has handed Treviso's Tobias Botes his first start against Ireland on Saturday as the Azzurri look to solve their problems at fly-half. That is one of four changes to the side for the match at the Aviva Stadium. Kristopher Burton - who has struggled at stand-off in Italy's two defeats so far - is relegated to the bench alongside Gonzalo Canale, whose place at number 12 is taken by Alberto Sgarbi. Benetton Treviso loosehead prop Michele Rizzo will make his Six Nations debut in Dublin, replacing veteran Andrea Lo Cicero, who drops to the bench. Lorenzo Cittadini will make his first appearance in this year's tournament replacing injured Leicester prop Martin Castrogiovanni. Castrogiovanni will miss the rest of the tournament after sustaining a fractured rib in the defeat by England. Aironi prop Fabio Staibano has also been included in Brunel's 24-man squad for the first time since the summer of 2009. Italy began their Six Nations campaign with a 30-12 loss at France and went down 19-15 to England in Rome in the last round. Italy: A Masi (Aironi Rugby); G Venditti (Aironi Rugby), T Benvenuti (Benetton Treviso), A Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso) , L McLean (Benetton Treviso); T Botes (Benetton Treviso), E Gori (Benetton Treviso); M Rizzo (Benetton Treviso), L Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), L Cittadini (Benetton Treviso), Q Geldenhuys (Aironi Rugby), M Bortolami (Aironi Rugby), A Zanni (Benetton Treviso), R Barbieri (Benetton Treviso), S Parisse (Stade Francais).
Replacements: T D'Apice (Aironi Rugby),F Staibano (Aironi Rugby), A Pavanello (Benetton Treviso), S Favaro (Aironi Rugby), F Semenzato (Benetton Treviso), K Burton (Benetton Treviso), G Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), A Lo Cicero (Racing-Metro Paris), G Toniolatti (Aironi Rugby).