Callum Braley and Jake Polledri have both been named by Conor O’Shea in a 44 man Italy preliminary squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Returning after injury is Matteo Minozzi, who missed the 2019 Six Nations with a knee injury, as well as Leonardo Ghiraldini in a squad that will be led by Sergio Parisse.

Conor O’Shea, speaking as the squad was announced, said:

“The announcement of this squad for the summer camps shows us how close we are to the incredible experience that awaits us in Japan in September, which is a big opportunity to take another step on our journey which aims to carry Italy to the summit of international rugby.

“This squad is a mix of young players and veterans, a truly electrifying combination. We have already had to make some difficult decisions and there will be some even harder ones over the summer.”

Italy will play four warm-up matches in the lead-up to the tournament including three clashes with Championship rivals Ireland, France and England.

They have been drawn in a pool with New Zealand, South Africa, Namibia and Canada, kicking off against the latter pair before taking on the Springboks and the All Blacks.

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Callum Braley (c) Gloucester Rugby[/caption]

Italy preliminary squad

Props

Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby), Andrea LOVOTTI (Zebre Rugby Club), Tiziano PASQUALI (Benetton Rugby), Nicola QUAGLIO (Benetton Rugby), Marco RICCIONI (Benetton Rugby), Cherif TRAORE’ (Benetton Rugby), Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby), Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Zebre Rugby Club)

Hookers

Luca BIGI (Benetton Rugby), Oliviero FABIANI (Zebre Rugby Club), Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Stade Toulousain), Engjel MAKELARA (Benetton Rugby)

Second row

Dean BUDD (Benetton Rugby), Marco FUSER (Benetton Rugby), Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby), David SISI (Zebre Rugby Club), Alessandro ZANNI (Benetton Rugby)

Back row

Renato GIAMMARIOLI (Zebre Rugby Club), Marco LAZZARONI (Benetton Rugby), Giovanni LICATA (Zebre Rugby Club), Maxime MBANDA’ (Zebre Rugby Club), Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby), Sergio PARISSE (Stade Français) (captain), Jake POLLEDRI (Gloucester Rugby), Abraham STEYN (Benetton Rugby),Jimmy TUIVAITI (Zebre Rugby Club)

Scrum-halves

Callum BRALEY (Gloucester Rugby), Guglielmo PALAZZANI (Zebre Rugby Club), Tito TEBALDI (Benetton Rugby), Marcello VIOLI (Zebre Rugby Club)

Fly-halves

Tommaso ALLAN (Benetton Rugby), Carlo CANNA (Zebre Rugby Club), Ian MCKINLEY (Benetton Rugby)

Centres

Tommaso BENVENUTI (Benetton Rugby), Michele CAMPAGNARO (Wasps), Tommaso CASTELLO (Zebre Rugby Club), Luca MORISI (Benetton Rugby), Marco ZANON (Benetton Rugby)

Back three

Mattia BELLINI (Zebre Rugby Club), Giulio BISEGNI (Zebre Rugby Club), Angelo ESPOSITO (Benetton Rugby), Jayden HAYWARD (Benetton Rugby), Matteo MINOZZI (Zebre Rugby Club), Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby Club)

Braley and Polledri named in Italy’s preliminary World Cup training squad

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