VETERAN lock Marco Bortolami will captain Italy in Dublin tomorrow.
Italy coach Jacques Brunel has left skipper Sergio Parisse out of the squad in the hope he will recover from a thigh injury in time to face England in Rome on March 15. Benetton Treviso's Robert Barbieri will take Parisse's place at number eight.
Bortolami, a former Italy captain, is alongside Paul Derbyshire and Luciano Orquera in a trio of players that Azzurri coach Brunel has promoted to the starting XV having all been benched against Scotland. Derbyshire replaces injured flanker Alessandro Zanni, who sustained a knee injury in Italy's 21-20 loss to Scotland in Rome two weeks ago. Tito Tebaldi returns to the Italy fold for the first time since June 2012 and will start at scrum-half.