Gonzalo Quesada, head coach of the Italian national team, has announced the list of players called up for the training camp in Rome, scheduled to begin on Sunday 19th January in preparation for the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations, in which Italy will kick-off their campaign on 1st of February, facing Scotland away in Edinburgh.
This year’s Championship holds special significance as it marks the 25th anniversary of Italy's Azzurri joining the Six Nations in 2000.
Thirty players have been selected by the coaching staff, divided into 17 forwards and 13 backs for the first week of preparation for the world’s oldest rugby tournament, with four additional players invited to participate in the training sessions.
The forwards see the return of prop Giosuè Zilocchi, who missed the 2024 Autumn Nations Series due to injury during the, while uncapped prop Luca Rizzoli joins the squad as having previously been part of the national team under Kieran Crowley’s management. He is also included to cover the suspension of Mirco Spagnolo, the Benetton Treviso prop, who will miss the first two matches and be sidelined for five weeks following his red card in the second derby against Zebre on 28th December.
In the second and back rows, the group from the 2024 Autumn Nations Series is the same, with only Andrea Zambonin missing out due to injury.
At half-back, scrum-half Stephen Varney returns, having moved from Gloucester to Vannes at the start of the season, where he has found more playing time in the Top 14, after a long tenure with the Cherry-and-Whites. Among the fly-halves, Tommaso Allan – who was unavailable in Genoa and Turin against Georgia and New Zealand – is the veteran of the group with 81 caps and over 500 points scored for Italy, making him the second-highest all-time scorer and the most prolific in the Six Nations (165 points).
Among the backs, Zebre winger Simone Gesi returns to the national team, having earned his only cap so far against Scotland at Murrayfield during the 2023 Six Nations, while his positional counterpart, Louis Lynagh, who recently underwent surgery, will miss out due to injury.
Invited to join the training camp for the 2025 Six Nations debut are Muhamed Hasa, Matteo Canali, Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, and Giulio Bertaccini, the only one in the quartet to have already played in a Test match, debuting at the "Ferraris" against Georgia on the 17th November.
“The period we will experience in Rome will be of fundamental importance in view of the start of the tournament. In the first week there will only be two days where we will have the whole group available. The organization and optimization of the time available will be crucial to work at our best. I can't wait to meet the whole team again: we are aware that huge challenges are coming for us. We have a united and solid group even if there are players missing due to injuries. Let's start again from the good things shown in November and from what we worked on but were unable to bring to the field as we wanted. Focus on our processes and on what we can control. Continuing to grow our rugby, of what we aim to do on the field, more convinced and determined than ever. Also continuing to strengthen our team identity and our culture. The level of commitment of everyone, players and staff, with the National Team in this Six Nations will be very high as always” said Gonzalo Quesada.
This is the list of players called up for Italy:
Props Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 59 caps) Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 47 caps) Marco RICCIONI (Saracens, 30 caps) Luca RIZZOLI (Zebre Parma, debutant) Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 22 caps)
Hookers Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Toulon, 28 caps) Giacomo NICOTERA (Stade Francais, 28 caps)
Second Lines Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 47 caps) Riccardo FAVRETTO (Benetton Rugby, 4 caps) Dino LAMB (Harlequins, 9 caps) Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 59 caps)
Third Lines Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 23 caps) Alessandro IZEKOR (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps) Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps) Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 58 caps) Ross VINTCENT (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps) Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 27 caps)
Scrum-half Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps) Martin PAGE-RELO (Lyon, 13 caps) Stephen VARNEY (Vannes, 30 caps)
Fly-halfs Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 81 caps) Paolo GARBISI (Toulon, 42 caps) Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
Centers Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 41 caps) Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 23 caps)
Wings/Fullbacks Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 23 caps) Matt GALLAGHER (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps) Simone GESI (Zebre Parma, 1 cap) Monty IOANE (Lyon, 35 caps) Jacopo TRULLA (Zebre Parma, 12 caps)
Invited athletes Giulio BERTACCINI (Valorugby Emilia, 1 cap) Matteo CANALI (Zebre Parma, debutant) Tommaso DI BARTOLOMEO (Zebre Parma, debutant) Muhamed HASA (Zebre Parma, debutant)
Athletes not considered due to injury Louis LYNAGH (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps) Paolo ODOGWU (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps) Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 9 caps)
