Italy coach Conor O'Shea on
Tuesday called up 34 players for his preliminary Six Nations
squad, including uncapped Gloucester flanker Jake Polledri.
The Irish coach has stuck with the bone structure of the
squad he used in the November tests, although flyhalf Tommaso
Allan, lock George Biagi and flanker Maxime Mbandà return after
missing them through injury.
Alessandro Zanni also features for the first time since 2016
after a series of injuries.
But he has been called up as a lock after winning his
previous 99 caps as a loose forward.
The team will be led by number eight Sergio Parisse.
Italy start their Six Nations campaign at home against
England on February 4.
Squad:
Props:
Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
Andrea LOVOTTI (Zebre Rugby Club, 20 caps)
Tiziano PASQUALI (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
Nicola QUAGLIO (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
Hookers:
Luca BIGI (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Stade Toulousain, 89 caps)
Oliviero FABIANI (Zebre Rugby Club, 4 caps)
Second row:
George BIAGI (Zebre Rugby Club, 19 caps)
Dean BUDD (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
Marco FUSER (Benetton Rugby, 27 caps)
Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
Alessandro ZANNI (Benetton Rugby, 99 caps)
Loose forwards:
Renato GIAMMARIOLI (Zebre Rugby Club, 1 cap)
Giovanni LICATA (Fiamme Oro Rugby, 3 caps)
Maxime Mata MBANDA' (Zebre Rugby Club, 11 caps)
Sebastian NEGRI DA OLEGGIO (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
Sergio PARISSE (Stade Francais, 129 caps) - captain
Jake POLLEDRI (Gloucester Rugby, debutant)
Abraham STEYN (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
Scrum-halves:
Edoardo GORI (Benetton Rugby, 65 caps)
Tito TEBALDI (Benetton Rugby, 23 caps)
Marcello VIOLI (Zebre Rugby Club, 8 caps)
Fly-halves:
Tommaso ALLAN (Benetton Rugby, 33 caps)
Carlo CANNA (Zebre Rugby Club, 25 caps)
Ian MCKINLEY (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
Three-quarters:
Mattia BELLINI (Zebre Rugby Club, 8 caps)
Tommaso BENVENUTI (Benetton Rugby, 45 caps)
Giulio BISEGNI (Zebre Rugby Club, 7 caps)
Tommaso BONI (Zebre Rugby Club, 8 caps)
Tommaso CASTELLO (Zebre Rugby Club, 5 caps)
Jayden HAYWARD (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
Matteo MINOZZI (Zebre Rugby Club, 3 caps)
Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby Club, 14 caps)
Leonardo SARTO (Glasgow Warriors, 34 caps)
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