Dazzling winger Ange Capuozzo has been omitted from Italy’s Six Nations squad due to injury.
The 26-year-old suffered a fractured finger in club Toulouse’s Top 14 win over La Rochelle in late-December but has not featured since.
Head coach Gonzalo Quesada will also be without the likes of experienced players such as flyhalf Tommaso Allan, hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi and loose forward Sebastian Negri.
Former Argentina flyhalf Quesada has called up two uncapped Zebre players, loose forward Samuele Locatelli and centre Damiano Mazza.
Italy finished fifth on the log last season, losing 22-15 to Ireland to finish their campaign before wins over the Wallabies and Chile sandwiched either side of a defeat to the Springboks in November.
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“Our last match in the 2025 Six Nations left a bitter taste because of the result, but we delivered an excellent performance,” Quesada said.
“We need to capitalise on the form we showed last November, when we changed some working methods, so we can quickly rediscover our patterns in just a few training sessions,” he added.
The Azzurri open their Six Nations campaign against Scotland in Rome on 7 February.
Italy Six Nations squad
Backs: Matt Gallagher (Benetton), Monty Ioane (Lyon), Louis Lynagh (Benetton), Lorenzo Pani (Zebre), Edoardo Todaro (Northampton), Juan Ignacio Brex (Toulon), Leonardo Marin (Benetton), Damiano Mazza (Benetton), Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton), Paolo Odogwu (Benetton), Giacomo Da Re (Zebre), Paolo Garbisi (Toulon); Alessandro Fusco (Zebre), Martin Page-Relo (Bordeaux Begles), Stephen Varney (Exeter).
Forwards: Lorenzo Cannone (Benetton), Alessandro Izekor (Benetton), Michele Lamaro (c, Benetton), Samuele Locatelli (Zebre), David Odiase (Zebre), Manuel Zuliani (Benetton), Niccolo Cannone (Benetton), Riccardo Favretto (Benetton), Federico Ruzza (Benetton), Andre Zambonin (Exeter), Simone Ferrari (Benetton), Danilo Fischetti (Northampton), Muhamed Hasa (Zebre), Marco Riccioni (Saracens), Mirco Spagnolo (Benetton), Tommaso Di Bartolomeo (Zebre), Pablo Dimcheff (Colomiers), Giacomo Nicotera (Stade Francais).
– AFP
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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