The Italian franchise have just two wins from a dozen outings in this season’s Guinness PRO14, but pack statistics have resulted in a dozen forwards signing new deals.
Follow all the action from the World Cup warm-up match on the RugbyPass live blog as England host Italy at St James’ Park in Newcastle.
Having been beaten by France in Paris in their last outing, Conor O'Shea has reshuffled his Italy team to face England in Newcastle on Friday.
Conor O'Shea has named his 31-man Italy Rugby World Cup squad for Japan - and there are some significant casualties.
Three uncapped players have been included in Italy's squad for their warm-up matches against Ireland and Russia, alongside 2018's breakout star Matteo Minozzi.
Zebre have named a 45-man strong squad for the 2019/20 and includes both Irish and English players.
Two days after Wales led the way with their World Cup training squad announcement, Conor O'Shea has followed suit by unveiling the names of Italy's panel.
Despite an encouraging round three performance where they led Ireland at the interval in Rome, Conor O'Shea has made three changes to his Italy team that will face England in London on Saturday.
Changes to Ireland's pack has given Italy a sniff of a competitive start, but the routine in these fixtures is for Schmidt's charges - regardless of who they are - to run amok in the closing quarter.
