Sky Sport and Martin Castrogiovanni scrum with Italrugby for the Six Nations

FIR, the Italian Rugby Federation, and Sky Sport unveiled today at the Sky Campus in Milan the names of the 33 Azzurri call-ups for the 2026 edition of the Guinness Six Nations, kicking off on February 5 at the Stade de France in Paris. The opening match will see the
reigning champions in
France’s defending champions against Ireland. Coming up is a high-intensity European spectacle thanks to the performances of France, Wales, England, Ireland, Italy and Scotland live on Sky and streaming on NOW, with the Azzurri’s five matches also visible free-to-air on TV8 starting with Italy-Scotland on Feb. 7 in Rome.

The 15 matches of one of the world’s most prestigious rugby tournaments will all be exclusively live in the House of Sport, which as always will guarantee full editorial coverage made up of about 100 hours between live events and studios: not only Guinness Six Nations, between February and April on the field also the Under 20 Six Nations – from 6/02, with the opening match between Italy and Scotland in Treviso – and the Guinness Women’s Six Nations kicking off on 11/04 in Paris with France-Italy, for a total of 45 matches in total over the three months.

In the Casa dello Sport, the Azzurri’s coach – in his third tournament on the national team’s bench – made official the list of 33 players who will assemble Sunday, Jan. 25, in Verona to begin preparation for Saturday, Feb. 7’s debut at the Stadio Olimpico against Scotland. The challenge will award the first points and the “Cuttitta Cup,” the trophy up for grabs between the two national teams in direct clashes in the Guinness Six Nations.

The following are the national team’s call-ups:
Pylons
Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 69 caps)
Danilo FISCHETTI (Northampton Saints, 58 caps)
Muhamed HASA (Zebre Parma, 4 caps)
Marco RICCIONI (Saracens, 36 caps)
Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
Heelers
Tommaso DI BARTOLOMEO (Zebre Parma, 6 caps)
Pablo DIMCHEFF (Colomiers Rugby, 3 caps)
Giacomo NICOTERA (Stade Français, 36 caps)
Second Lines
Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 58 caps)
Riccardo FAVRETTO (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 67 caps)
Andrea ZAMBONIN (Exeter Chiefs, 14 caps)
Third Lines
Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 33 caps)
Alessandro IZEKOR (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 49 caps)
Samuele LOCATELLI (Zebre Parma, rookie)
David ODIASE (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)
Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 38 caps)
Scrum-halves
Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 20 caps)
Martin PAGE-RELO (Bordeaux, 21 caps)
Stephen VARNEY (Exeter Chiefs, 36 caps)
Opening middles
Giacomo DA RE (Zebre Parma, 6 caps)
Paolo GARBISI (Toulon, 49 caps)
Centers
Juan Ignacio BREX (Toulon, 49 caps)
Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
Damiano MAZZA (Zebre Parma, rookie)
Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 34 caps)
Paolo ODOGWU (Benetton Rugby, 7 caps)
Wings/Extremes
Matt GALLAGHER (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
Monty IOANE (Lyon, 42 caps)
Louis LYNAGH (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 8 caps)
Edoardo TODARO (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)

.

For Sky Sport’s Guinness Six Nations, the best team ever will take the field: on the field will be Diego Dominguez (74 caps, Italy’s all-time top scorer and one of seven players to have surpassed 1,000 international points), Andrea De Rossi (32 caps, captain at the 2004 Six Nations), Pippo Frati (4 caps, coach) and Alessandro Moscardi (44 caps, captain at the 2002 Six Nations), joined by Martin Castrogiovanni who joins the Sky Sport talent team. The top matches will be telecast by Francesco Pierantozzi, Moreno Molla will follow the team’s training sessions day by day from Italy’s training camp and will be part of the commentary team along with Federico Fusetti and Paolo Malpezzi.

To this edition Italy arrives with strong ambitions and boosted by a growing movement. The Azzurri’s debut is scheduled for Saturday, February 7, at 3:10 p.m. at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, against Scotland: the appointment, live on Sky Sport Uno, TV8 (free-to-air as all 5 matches of Italy in the tournament) and NOW, will be preceded by a rich pre-match directly on the field, conducted by Diego Dominguez and Andrea De Rossi. At the end of the challenge there will be no shortage of interviews, analysis and commentary with the protagonists.

During the tournament, on Sky Sport 24 news, interviews, match highlights and the traditional appointment with Objective Rugby Six Nations, on Mondays at 5:45 p.m. with Diego Dominguez, who will also replicate his presence in the studio on Thursday editions of the all news channel. The Guinness Six Nations 2026 will also be featured on @SkySport’s official social channels and will enjoy full coverage on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and X, #SkyRugby, as well as on the SkySport.it website and in the premium Sky Sport Insider section.