Italy name squad for World Cup Warm-Ups

Italy have named a squad of 38 players to prepare for two upcoming warm-up matches ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Conor O’Shea has included 21 of the Benetton Treviso side that reached the Quarter Finals of the Guinness Pro 14 with only four based outside of the two Italian franchises.

Five players were not considered due to injury though they may yet recover in time for the final selection. First choice hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini remains determined to come back from a serious knee injury suffered in the Six Nations, with props Cherif Traorè and Giosuè Zilocchi, second row Marco Fuser, and scrumhalf Marcello Violi all battling to stay in contention. Midfielder Tommaso Castello has already been ruled out of the tournament with his broken leg not sufficiently healed.

There are three uncapped players named. Marco Riccioni is one of three tighthead props included, all from Benetton. The 21-year-old has previously captained the national u20 side. Benetton hooker Engjel Makelara, 22, also gets the call, as does Gloucester scrumhalf Callum Braley. The 25-year-old Bristol native represented England at u20 level but qualifies for the Azzurri through his Italian grandfather.

The first match for the group will be against Dublin in Ireland on August 10, followed be a home match against Russia in San Benedetto. Further matches will be played ahead of RWC 2019 against France on August 30, and finally England in Newcastle on September 6. Italy will play Canada in a pivotal Pool B match on September 26 in Fukuoka.

FORWARDS
Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Nicola Quaglio (Benetton), Federico Zanni (Benetton), Luca Bigi (Benetton), Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre), Engjel Makelara (Benetton), Simone Ferrari (Benetton), Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton), Marco Riccioni (Benetton), Dean Budd (Benetton), Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton), Federico Ruzza (Benetton), David Sisi (Zebre), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton), Renato Giammarioli (Zebre), Giovanni Licata (Zebre), Maxime Mbandà (Zebre), Sebastian Negri (Benetton), Sergio Parisse (capt., Stade Français, FR), Jake Polledri (Gloucester, UK), Braam Steyn (Benetton), Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre)

BACKS
Callum Braley (Gloucester, UK), Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre), Tito Tebaldi (Benetton), Tommaso Allan (Benetton), Carlo Canna (Zebre), Ian McKinley (Benetton), Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton), Michele Campagnaro (Wasps, UK), Luca Morisi (Benetton), Marco Zanon (Benetton), Mattia Bellini (Zebre), Giulio Bisegni (Zebre), Angelo Esposito (Benetton), Jayden Hayward (Benetton), Matteo Minozzi (Zebre), Edoardo Padovani (Zebre)

FIXTURES
Sat, Aug 10 – vs Ireland (Dublin)
Sat, Aug 17 – vs Russia (San Benedetto)