Paolo Garbisi has been recalled to the Italy squad for the opening two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations as they prepare to take on France in Rome.
The fly-half had initially been left out of the wider training squad as he recovered from a knee injury, but he is back in the 33-man group for the opening two games against France and England.
Head coach Kieran Crowley said this week that Garbisi would likely miss the opening games of the competition, having last played for club side Montpellier at the end of December.
However his inclusion would indicate that he could be back sooner than expected.
Elsewhere, it is largely the same squad that has been training in Verona to prepare for the Championship, with the squad set to regather on Monday.
Crowley said: “We have had a good week of work in Verona, putting the foundations in place for the 2023 Six Nations. We are taking it step-by-step: our focus now is on the present and that is France. We have faith in our abilities: we are on our path with the aim of continuing to build something important.”
Italy squad for the first two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations:
Forwards
Pietro CECCARELLI (Brive, 24 caps) Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps) Danilo FISCHETTI (London Irish, 25 caps) Marco RICCIONI (Saracens Rugby, 17 caps) Luca RIZZOLI (Zebre Parma, uncapped) Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps) Luca BIGI (Zebre Parma 42 caps) Marco MANFREDI (Zebre Parma, uncapped) Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 7 caps) Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps) Riccardo FAVRETTO (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap) Edoardo IACHIZZI (Vannes, uncapped) Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 36 caps) Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps) Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps) – captain Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps) Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps) Jake POLLEDRI (Gloucester Rugby, 19 caps) Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
Backs
Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 5 caps) Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps) Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 15 caps) Tommaso ALLAN (Harlequins, 66 caps) Giacomo DA RE (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap) Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 21 caps) Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps) Enrico LUCCHIN (Zebre Parma, 1 cap) Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps) Luca MORISI (London Irish, 39 caps) Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 7 caps) Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 7 caps) Matteo MINOZZI (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps) Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps)
