Conor O’Shea has named his final squad of 31 players for the first two games of the NatWest 6 Nations including uncapped tighthead prop Marco Riccioni.
Riccioni, who captained Italy Under-20s last year, is the only uncapped player in the squad, which was been cut to 31 after an initial training camp.
Click here for the complete 2018 NatWest 6 Nations fixture list
One player who is absent is Leonardo Sarto, who has suffered from a serious back injury, and will likely miss the rest of the season as a result, while Marco Fuser will miss the start of the campaign.
O’Shea said: “It was a very positive camp and the team cannot wait for the upcoming games. We wish Leonardo a quick recovery from his injury and we no doubt that we’ll need the whole squad, including those players not called up for the first two games.
“This Championship is incredibly demanding but we’re eager to start against England in front of our fans at the Olimpico.”
Italy will begin their campaign at home to England on February 4, followed by an away trip to Ireland in round two. Italy squad for the first two games of the NatWest 6 Nations: 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) Marco RICCIONI (Benetton Rugby, uncapped)
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) Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps) Alessandro ZANNI (Benetton Rugby, 99 caps)
Back row 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 Abraham STEYN (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
Scrum-halves Edoardo GORI (Benetton Rugby, 65 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)
Not considered due to injury: Michele CAMPAGNARO (Exeter Chiefs), Angelo ESPOSITO (Benetton Rugby), Marco FUSER (Benetton Rugby), Ornel GEGA (Benetton Rugby), Leonardo SARTO (Glasgow Warriors), Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby)
