Alessandro Zanni is fit to start for Italy in Round 3 of the Guinness Six Nations and he retakes his place in the Azzurri pack against Scotland on Saturday.
The veteran second row, who boasts 118 caps, was injured in the warm-up against France in Paris two weeks ago.
He was replaced by Dean Budd but has recovered in time to start in Italy’s first home match of the 2020 Championship.
Zanni will win his 119th cap, which will draw him level with England’s Jason Leonard and former teammate Martin Castrogiovanni.
Zanni’s return is the only change for the Azzurri, who have retained Carlo Canna at inside centre while Tommaso Allan starts at fly-half.
Head coach Franco Smith said: “We showed some improvements against France. We want to produce a big performance in front of our fans at the Stadio Olimpico showing everyone our game and our true potential.”
Italy started their campaign with a 42-0 defeat to Wales in Round 1, before scoring three tries in a 35-22 loss to France at the Stade de France.
Italy team to face Scotland 15 Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps) 14 Mattia Bellini (Zebre Rugby Club, 24 caps) 13 Luca Morisi (Benetton Rugby, 31 caps) 12 Carlo Canna (Zebre Rugby Club, 41 caps) 11 Matteo Minozzi (Wasps Rugby, 18 caps) 10 Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby, 56 caps) 9 Callum Braley (Gloucester Rugby, 7 caps) 8 Abraham Steyn (Benetton Rugby, 38 caps) 7 Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps) 6 Jake Polledri (Gloucester Rugby, 15 caps) 5 Niccolò Cannone (Argos Petrarca Rugby/Benetton Rugby, 2 caps) 4 Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby, 118 caps) 3 Giosuè Zilocchi (Zebre Rugby Club, 4 caps) 2 Luca Bigi (Zebre Rugby Club, 26 caps) (c) 1 Andrea Lovotti (Zebre Rugby Club, 42 caps)
Replacements: 16 Federico Zani (Benetton Rugby 15 caps) 17 Danilo Fischetti (Zebre Rugby Club, 2 caps) 18 Marco Riccioni (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps) 19 Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps) 20 Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps) 21 Giovanni Licata (Zebre Rugby Club, 10 caps) 22 Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre Rugby Club, 38 caps) 23 Giulio Bisegni (Zebre Rugby Club, 15 caps)
