Four uncapped players in Italy squad

Eurosport - Thu, 22 Oct 23:17:00 2009

Italy coach Nick Mallett named four uncapped players on Thursday in a final 32-man training camp squad before next month's Tests against New Zealand, South Africa and Samoa.

Nick Mallett Italy - 0

They are back Tommaso Benvenuti, his Treviso team-mate and scrumhalf Fabio Semenzato, Parma flanker Francesco Minto and Gran Parma centre-wing Giovanbattista Venditti.

Fit-again loose forward Simone Favaro returns after playing well in the June tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Mallett has made no other changes to the squad led by captain Sergio Parisse which was called up for a training camp in Rome this week.

He is expected to use Craig Gower at flyhalf again next month after fielding the Australian-born rugby league convert at playmaker in June.

Parisse's fellow back-rower and Stade Francais team-mate Mauro Bergamasco is out with a broken foot, fullback Andrea Masi has a knee problem and Marco Bortolami has a dislocated shoulder.

The squad will meet between November 1 and 5. The Azzurri take on the All Blacks at Milan's San Siro stadium on Nov. 14 before meeting world champions South Africa in Udine the following week and then tackling Samoa in Ascoli Piceno on Nov. 28.

Forwards: Matias Aguero, Martin Castrogiovanni, Lorenzo Cittadini, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Paul Derbyshire, Simone Favaro, Carlo Festuccia, Quintin Geldenhuys, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Francesco Minto, Sergio Parisse, Antonio Pavanello, Salvatore Perugini, Tommaso Reato, Ignacio Rouyet, Josh Sole, Manoa Vosawai, Alessandro Zanni.

Backs: Tommaso Benvenuti, Mirco Bergamasco, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Craig Gower, Luke McLean, Luciano Orquera, Matteo Pratichetti, Kaine Robertson, Fabio Semenzato, Michele Sepe, Alberto Sgarbi, Tito Tebaldi, Giovanbattista Venditti.

Reuters

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