Conor O’Shea believes Italian rugby is going in the right direction after selecting a 37-man Italy squad for autumn internationals next month.
Two uncapped players have been called up for the games against Ireland, Georgia, Australia and New Zealand in November, with Johan Meyer and Jimmy Tuivaiti getting the nod.
They are two of 14 Zebre players to make the cut along with clubmates Giosuè Zilocchi, Oliviero Fabiani, George Biagi, Tommaso Castello and Carlo Canna.
Italy squad for autumn internationals:
FORWARDS
Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
Andrea Lovotti (Zebre Rugby Club, 27 caps)
Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
Nicola Quaglio (Benetton Rugby, 7 caps)
Cherif Traoré (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)
Giosuè Zilocchi (Zebre Rugby Club, 1 cap)
Luca Bigi (Benetton Rugby, 11 caps)
Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre Rugby Club, 6 caps)
Leonardo Ghiraldini (Stade Toulousian, 96 caps)
George Biagi (Zebre Rugby Club, 22 caps)
Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
Marco Fuser (Benetton Rugby, 29 caps)
Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby, 106 caps)
Renato Giammarioli (Zebre Rugby Club, 2 caps)
Johan Meyer (Zebre Rugby Club, uncapped)
Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais Paris, 134 caps) – captain
Jake Polledri (Gloucester Rugby, 3 caps)
Abraham Steyn (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre Rugby Club, uncapped)
BACKS
Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre Rugby Club, 24 caps)
Tito Tebaldi (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
Marcello Violi (Zebre Rugby Club, 15 caps)
Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps)
Carlo Canna (Zebre Rugby Club, 29 caps)
Ian McKinley (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
Giulio Bisegni (Zebre Rugby Club, 10 caps)
Michele Campagnaro (Exeter Chiefs, 34 caps)
Tommaso Castello (Zebre Rugby Club, 12 caps)
Luca Morisi (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
Mattia Bellini (Zebras Rugby Club, 14 caps)
Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Rugby, 52 caps)
Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
Edoardo Padovani (Zebre Rugby Club, 14 caps)
Luca Sperandio (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
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