Sergio Parisse looks set to return for Italy against England on Saturday after being named as captain of the 26-man squad that flew to London on Wednesday.
The Azzurri No.8 missed the clash with Ireland in Round Three of the Guinness Six Nations but has now recovered to take his place in the squad.
Conor O’Shea will name his matchday 23 on Thursday, with two players in contention for a debut at Twickenham.
Marco Riccioni and Marco Zanon, Benetton tighthead and centre respectively, could make their international bows in the clash.
Meanwhile there is also a return for Sebastian Negri, who like Parisse did not feature against Ireland, while Michele Campagnaro is in, having missed Wasps’ clash with Leicester Tigers last weekend through injury.
Italy squad for England match:
Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps) Andrea LOVOTTI (Zebre Rugby Club, 32 caps) Tiziano PASQUALI (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps) Marco RICCIONI (Benetton Rugby, uncapped) Cherif TRAORE’ (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps) Luca BIGI (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps) Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Stade Toulousain, 102 caps) Dean BUDD (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps) Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps) David SISI (Zebre Rugby Club, 3 cap) Alessandro ZANNI (Benetton Rugby, 110 caps) Maxime MBANDA’ (Zebre Rugby Club, 16 caps) Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps) Sergio PARISSE (Stade Francais, 136 caps) (c) Abraham Jurgens STEYN (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps) Guglielmo PALAZZANI (Zebre Rugby Club, 30 caps) Tito TEBALDI (Benetton Rugby, 30 caps) Tommaso ALLAN (Benetton Rugby, 46 caps) Ian MCKINLEY (Benetton Rugby, 7 caps) Michele CAMPAGNARO (Wasps, 41 caps) Tommaso CASTELLO (Zebre Rugby Club, 17 caps) Luca MORISI (Benetton Rugby, 23 caps) Marco ZANON (Benetton Rugby, uncapped) Angelo ESPOSITO (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps) Jayden HAYWARD (Benetton Rugby, 15 caps) Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby Club, 18 caps)
