Italy have named their squad to prepare for their Guinness Six Nations Round 4 clash with Wales in Rome.
Stephen Varney missed the game against Ireland after dislocating his finger in the warm-up, but the scrum-half is included in the squad.
He is joined by Marcello Violi who has impressed since his return to action with Zebre, while Daniele Rimpelli is recalled with Cherif Traorè ruled out through injury.
Franco Smith has called on his team to learn from the three losses suffered so far in the Championship as they prepare to welcome Grand Slam-chasing Wales to Rome.
He said: “We start again focusing on ourselves. These defeats, which do not reflect the quantity and quality of work put in during training – must serve as motivation for us to learn from our errors and spur us to react.
“We continue on our journey to becoming more competitive.
“We have before us two important matches, two opportunities to show our true value and finishing off the Championship in the best possible way.”
As well as Violi, Marco Zanon is also back in the squad, having started the opening game against France before missing clashes with England and Ireland.
And Edoardo Padovani is also recalled and provides some experience in a young group of outside backs.
Italy squad to prepare for Wales
Props
Pietro CECCARELLI (Brive, 14 caps) Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Rugby Club, 10 caps) Andrea LOVOTTI (Zebre Rugby Club, 45 caps) Marco RICCIONI (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps) Daniele RIMPELLI (Zebre Rugby Club, 1 cap) Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Zebre Rugby Club, 12 caps)
Hookers
Luca BIGI (Zebre Rugby Club, 35 caps) – captain Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps) Marco MANFREDI (Zebre Rugby Club, uncapped)
Second row
Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 11 caps) Riccardo FAVRETTO (Mogliano Rugby 1969, uncapped) Marco LAZZARONI (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps) David SISI (Zebre Rugby Club, 14 caps)
Back row
Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 4 caps) Maxime MBANDA’ (Zebre Rugby Club, 26 caps) Johan MEYER (Zebre Rugby Club, 11 caps) Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 30 caps) Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
Scrum-halves
Callum BRALEY (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps) Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 5 caps) Marcello VIOLI (Zebre Rugby Club, 19 caps)
Fly-halves
Tommaso ALLAN (Benetton Rugby, 61 caps) Carlo CANNA (Zebre Rugby Club, 50 caps) Paolo GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
Outside backs
Mattia BELLINI (Zebre Rugby Club, 29 caps) Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps) Montanna IOANE (Benetton Rugby, 4 caps) Federico MORI (Kawasaki Robot Calvisano, 7 caps) Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 26 caps) Luca SPERANDIO (Benetton Rugby, 11 caps) Jacopo TRULLA (Kawasaki Robot Calvisano, 6 caps) Marco ZANON (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps)
Invited to join the training camp
Andrea ZAMBONIN (Kawasaki Robot Calvisano, uncapped)
