Parisse back to lead Italy in November tests

Sergio Parisse will return to captain Italy in the upcoming November test series. The 35-year-old skipped the summer tour to Japan to recover ahead of the long World Cup year. He is one of only four players based outside of Italy named in Conor O’Shea’s 37-man squad, the remainder come from the two Guinness Pro 14 franchises – Zebre and Benetton Treviso.

Toulouse hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini, Gloucester loose forward Jake Polledri, and Exeter center Michele Campagnaro are the other exiles. The two England-based players may not be available for the match against Ireland at Soldier Field as the November 3 date falls outside World Rugby’s test window. Premiership Rugby’s policy prohibits the release of its players for those matches.

Two uncapped players are included in the group, both back row forwards from Zebre who qualify on residency. South African flanker Johan Meyer and New Zealand-born No8 Jimmy Tuivaiti are in line to make their international debuts if selected.

Italy will play home matches against Georgia, Australia, and New Zealand on successive weekends following the match in Chicago.

FORWARDS
Simone Ferrari (Benetton Treviso), Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Nicola Quaglio (Benetton Treviso), Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton Treviso), Cherif Traore (Benetton Treviso), Giosuè Zilocchi (Zebre), Luca Bigi (Benetton Treviso), Olivier Fabiani (Zebre), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Toulouse, FR), George Biagi (Zebre), Dean Budd (Benetton Treviso), Marco Fuser (Benetton Treviso), Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Treviso), Federico Ruzza (Benetton Treviso), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso), Renato Giammarioli (Zebre), Johan Meyer (Zebre), Sebastian Negri (Benetton Treviso), Sergio Parisse (Stade Français, FR), Jake Polledri (Gloucester, UK), Braam Steyn (Benetton Treviso), Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre)

BACKS
Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre), Tito Tebaldi (Benetton Treviso), Marcello Violi (Zebre), Tommaso Allan (Benetton Treviso), Carlo Canna (Zebre), Ian McKinley (Benetton Treviso), Giulio Bisegni (Zebre), Michele Campagnaro (Exeter Chiefs, UK), Tommaso Castello (Zebre), Luca Morisi (Benetton Treviso), Mattia Bellini (Zebre), Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Treviso), Luca Sperandio (Benetton Treviso), Jayden Hayward (Benetton Treviso), Edoardo Padovani (Zebre)