Tuesday 10 October 2017 17:21, UK
Conor O'Shea has selected five uncapped players in Italy's 34-man squad for the November Internationals.
Captain and No 8 Sergio Parisse and hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini, absent during the summer tour, both make their return to the squad for Tests against Fiji, Argentina and South Africa on consecutive weekends between November 11-25.
The five new faces are full-back Matteo Minozzi, Ireland-born fly-half Ian McKinley, New Zealand-born centre Jayden Hayward, and back rows Renato Giammarioli and Giovanni Licata.
"Despite numerous injuries, there's been much discussion within the team management over several positions," said O'Shea.
"The quality of the work done by Benetton Rugby and Zebre Rugby, and more generally at all levels of Italian rugby, is starting to have a real impact on the quality and quantity of players at our disposition."
Turning to his team's tough line-up of matches, O'Shea said: "We have our feet on the ground and we know very well how tough the upcoming games will be.
"But we're also conscious of the fact that we're making significant progress towards our goal, which is to again become an extremely competitive team at international level."
Italy squad
Props: Dario Chistolini (Zebre), Simone Ferrari (Treviso), Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Tiziano Pasquali, Federico Zani (both Treviso).
Hookers: Luca Bigi (Treviso), Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Toulouse).
Locks: George Fabio Biagi (Zebre), Dean Budd, Marco Fuser, Marco Lazzaroni, Federico Ruzza (all Treviso).
Back row: Renato Giammarioli (Zebre), Giovanni Licata (Fiamme Oro), Maxime Mata Mbanda (Zebre), Francesco Minto (Treviso), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais), Abraham Steyn (Treviso).
Scrum-halves: Edoardo Gori, Tito Tebaldi (both Treviso), Marcello Violi (Zebre).
Fly-halves: Carlo Canna (Zebre), Ian McKinley (Treviso).
Centres: Tommaso Benvenuti (Treviso), Tommaso Boni, Tommaso Castello (both Zebre), Jayden Hayward (Treviso).
Wings: Mattia Bellini (Zebre), Angelo Esposito (Treviso), Leonardo Sarto (Glasgow Warriors), Giovambattista Venditti (Zebre).
Full-backs: Matteo Minozzi (Zebre), Edoardo Padovani (Toulon).
