Warburton to start for Wales in Italy

Sam Warburton has been named at blindside in the Wales pack ahead of their trip to Italy in the opening round of the Six Nations.
The back-rower, who gave up on the captaincy so he could focus on his own game, will partner Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty in the back row.
The Gloucester star replaces Taulupe Faletau at the back of the scrum but there is no room for Thomas Young as the bench cover is provided by Opsreys’ James King.
Given Luke Charteris’ injury, Jake Ball partners newly appointed captain Alun Wyn Jones while the front row see the return or Nicky Smith and Samson Lee.
Rhys Webb will make his international return at scrum-half while the midfield will be made up by Scarlets duo Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies.
“I’m delighted to name an experienced team for the game against Italy and to welcome back five players who missed out on the opportunity against South Africa in the autumn,” said Wales head coach Rob Howley
“The Six Nations is a special tournament and we are looking forward to being highly competitive. We feel this is the best side selected to start the campaign, we want to get off to a good start and we feel experience will be vital in that.
“There has been a lot of energy and enthusiasm over the past two weeks and we are excited going into Sunday.
“We know we are going to Rome to face a hugely motivated and very competitive Italian side.”
Italy: Edoardo Padovani; Giulio Bisegni, Tommaso Benvenuti, Luke McLean, Giovanbattista Venditti, Carlo Canna, Edoardo Gori; Andrea Lovotti, Ornel Gega, Lorenzo Cittadini, Marco Fuser, George Biagi, Abraham Steyn, Maxime Mata Mbanda, Sergio Parisse (c)
Replacements: Leonardo Ghiraldini, Sami Panico, Pietro Ceccarelli, Joshua Furno, Francesco Minto, Giorgio Bronzini, Tommaso Allan, Michele Campagnaro
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon); George North (Northampton), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Liam Williams (Scarlets); Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Webb (Ospreys); Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, c), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester)
Replacements: Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Rob Evans (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Cory Hill (Newport Gwent Dragons), James King (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Sam Davies (Ospreys), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins)