Former England U20s forward named in 31-man Italian Six Nations squad

Former Bath and London Irish forward David Sisi could earn his first Italian cap as he was named in Italy’s 31-man Six Nations training squad.

The 6’5, 120kg forward won 14 caps for England U20s in 2012 and 2013 and currently plays for Zebre.

Conor O’Shea’s squad also includes former Leinster flyhalf Ian McKinley, who already has four caps to his name.

O’Shea said: “As ever there have been some difficult selection decisions but we are looking forward to getting the group back together and continuing to work towards not just been competitive but winning at the highest level.

“The Six Nations this year has probably never seen so many squads operating at the very highest level. We know the challenge but also know when we get our levels to where they need to be we can be more than just competitive but we need to work even harder now to ensure the big moments in these matches go our way.

“We have played and beaten teams like Fiji, Japan and Georgia over the past 18 months but have not been able to get the victory against the top tier teams that will really springboard what we are doing in Italian Rugby and also lift the confidence to go to the next level.

Italian squad for training camp:

FORWARDS

Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby)

Andrea Lovotti (Zebre Rugby)

Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton Rugby)

Cherif Traore (Benetton Rugby)

Giosuè Zilocchi (Zebre Rugby)

Luca Bigi (Benetton Rugby)

Leonardo Ghiraldini (Stade Toulousian)

Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby)

Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby)

David Sisi (Zebre Rugby Club)

Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby)

Marco Barbini (Benetton Rugby)

Maxime Mbanda (Zebre Rugby Club)

Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby)

Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais)

Abraham Jurgens Steyn (Benetton Rugby)

Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre Rugby)

BACKS

Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre Rugby

Tito Tebaldi (Benetton Rugby)

Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby)

Carlo Canna (Zebre Rugby)

Ian McKinley (Benetton Rugby)

Giulio Bisegni (Zebre Rugby)

Michele Campagnaro (Wasps)

Tommaso Castello (Zebre Rugby)

Luca Morisi (Benetton Rugby)

Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Rugby)

Angelo Esposito (Benetton Rugby)

Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby)

Edoardo Padovani (Zebre Rugby)

Luca Sperandio (Benetton Rugby)