Autumn Nations Series | Italy name 33-man squad for summer internationals

Kieran Crowley with the media ahead of the game

by Josh Graham

Italy head coach Kieran Crowley has named a 33-man squad for his side’s summer fixtures with fly-half Tommaso Allan returning from his international exile.

Harlequins No.10 Allan, 29, had declared himself unavailable but is back in the fold for the first time under New Zealander Crowley ahead of three Tests this summer against Portugal, Romania and Georgia.

Crowley has named four uncapped players in total with prop Ion Neculai and fly-half Giacomo Da Re in line to make their debuts.

After the retirement of Callum Braley, rookie scrum-halves Manfredi Albanese and Alessandro Garbisi, brother of fly-half Paolo, are also included, with the latter having starred for Italy in this year’s Six Nations Under-20s.

There is also a return to the fold for Tommaso Menoncello, who touched down against France in the opening game of this year’s Guinness Six Nations to become the Championship’s youngest scorer for 55 years.

Crowley said: “We have a very interesting squad available with a mix of young people who will be able to make their debut in the national team and the return of experienced athletes.

“This summer tour represents a crucial stage in our journey. We are back from a win in Wales and will now face teams against which we want to show further progress by strengthening our team identity just over a year out from a major event like RWC.”

The squad is once again captained by flanker Michele Lamaro and will travel to Lisbon to take on Portugal on June 25 before facing Romania in Bucharest and Georgia in Batumi in successive weekends.

Italy squad
Forwards

Pietro CECCARELLI (Brive, 21 caps)
Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 34 caps)
Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 20 caps)
Ion NECULAI (Zebre Parma, uncapped)
Ivan NEMER (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
Cherif TRAORE ‘(Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
Epalahame FAIVA (Benetton Rugby, 4 caps)
Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 11 caps)
Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps)
Marco FUSER (Newcastle Falcons, 38 caps)
Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 30 caps)
David SISI (Zebre Parma, 21 caps)
Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 1 cap)
Renato GIAMMARIOLI (Zebre Parma, 5 caps)
Toa HALAFIHI (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps)
Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 15 caps) – captain
Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)

Backs

Manfredi ALBANESE (Transvecta Calvisano, uncapped)
Alessandro FUSCO (Fiamme Oro Rugby / Zebre Parma, 6 caps)
Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, uncapped)
Tommaso ALLAN (Harlequins, 61 caps)
Giacomo DA RE (FEMI-CZ Rovigo / Benetton Rugby, uncapped)
Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 18 caps)
Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps)
Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)
Marco ZANON (Pau, 12 caps)
Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)
Ange CAPUOZZO (Grenoble, 2 caps)
Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 35 caps)
Jacopo TRULLA (Zebre Parma, 7 caps)