Italy head coach Kieran Crowley has unveiled a 34-man training squad for the upcoming 2023 Guinness Six Nations tournament.
The squad will convene in Verona for a camp between January 22nd and 27th. Highlighting the list is Ange Capuozzo, the World Rugby Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year, who made a strong impression during the previous Championship.
Michele Lamaro will continue to lead the team as captain, but Paolo Garbisi will be absent due to injury and Monty Ioane is also not available.
Younger brother of Paolo, Alessandro Garbisi is among the squad, along with four players who are yet to earn a cap. The squad has a youthful composition, with Tommaso Allan being the only player to have over 50 caps.
Props Matteo Nocera, Luca Rizzoli, and Mirco Spagnolo are all in contention to earn their first caps, while hooker Marco Manfredi also has an opportunity to make his debut.
Italy squad for 2023 Guinness Six Nations:
Forwards:
Pietro Ceccarelli (Brive), Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby), Danilo Fischetti (London Irish), Matteo Nocera (Zebre Parma), Marco Riccioni (Saracens Rugby), Luca Rizzoli (Zebre Parma), Mirco Spagnolo (Petrarca Rugby), Federico Zani (Benetton Rugby), Luca Bigi (Zebre Parma), Marco Manfredi (Zebre Parma), Giacomo Nicotera (Benetton Rugby), Niccolò Cannon (Benetton Rugby), Marco Fuser (Massy), Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby), Andrea Zambonin (Zebre Parma), Lorenzo Cannon (Benetton Rugby), Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby), Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby), Giovanni Pettinelli (Benetton Rugby), Jake Polledri (Gloucester Rugby), Manuel Zuliani (Benetton Rugby)
Backs:
Alessandro Garbisi (Benetton Rugby), Stephen Varney (Gloucester Rugby), Alessandro Fusco (Zebre Parma), Tommaso Allan (Harlequins), Giacomo Da Re (Benetton Rugby), Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby), Enrico Lucchin (Zebre Parma), Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Rugby), Luca Morisi (London Irish), Pierre Bruno (Zebre Parma), Ange Capuozzo (Stade Toulousain), Matteo Minozzi (Benetton Rugby), Edoardo Padovani (Benetton Rugby)
