Italrugby, thirty-six Azzurri called up.
Kieran Crowley’s choices
Kieran Crowley, Technical Commissioner of the Italian Men’s National Rugby Team, has made official the list of athletes called up for the San Benedetto del Tronto gathering scheduled to begin Sunday, August 13 in preparation for the Azzurri’s third summer Test Match and first home match valid for the Vittoria Assicurazioni Summer Nations Series, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and free-to-air on TV8.
Italy will face Romania on Saturday, August 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Riviera delle Palme Stadium, which will again host the Azzurri in a pre-World Cup Test Match four years after the last time since the match they won against Russia 85-15.
Thirty-six players have been called up by the Italrugby technical staff with Zebre center Enrico Lucchin returning to the group.
Training sessions are scheduled to start on Monday, August 14 at the Nelson Mandela Rugby Field, while an event in Piazza Giorgini at 7 p.m. is scheduled for late afternoon of the same day with the city of San Benedetto del Tronto ready to welcome the national team.
This is the list of players attending the gathering:
Pylons
Filippo ALONGI (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
Pietro CECCARELLI (Perpignan, 27 caps)
Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 45 caps)
Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 32 caps)
Ivan NEMER (Benetton Rugby, 11 caps)
Marco RICCIONI (Saracens, 22 caps)
Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby, 22 caps)
Heelers
Luca BIGI (Zebre Parma, 47 caps)
Epalahame FAIVA (released, 6 caps)
Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
Second Lines.
Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 31 caps)
Dino LAMB (Harlequins, 1 cap)
Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
David SISI (Zebre Parma, 28 caps)
Third Lines
Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
Toa HALAFIHI (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 27 caps) – captain
Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 47 caps)
Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 12 caps)
Scrum-halves
Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 14 caps)
Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps)
Martin PAGE-RELO (Lyon, 1 cap)
Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 20 caps)
Opening Mids.
Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 73 caps)
Giacomo DA RE (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 25 caps)
Centers
Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps)
Enrico LUCCHIN (Zebre Parma, 1 cap)
Luca MORISI (released, 45 caps)
Wings/Extremes.
Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 13 caps)
Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 10 caps)
Montanna IOANE (Lyon, 19 caps)
Federico MORI (Bayonne, 13 caps)
Paolo ODOGWU (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)
Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 2 caps)
