Coach Conor O’Shea has made three changes to Italy’s side ahead of their penultimate Six Nations match against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The backline remains unchanged, but O’Shea has tweaked the back and front rows.
Parisse and flank Sebastian Negri missed Italy’s previous match, against Ireland, due to an injury and illness respectively, but both have been declared fit to front England. Parisse starts at No 8, while Sebastian Negri gets the nod at blindside flank.
The duo’s inclusion means South African flank Braam Steyn is the only surviving loose forward in the side as Jimmy Tuivaiti and Maxime Mbandà both drop out of the match 23.
Elsewhere, veteran hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini has been pulled from the starting lineup and his place has been taken by Luca Bigi. Ghiraldini is on the bench.
Italy – 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Subs: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 David Sisi, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Castello.
Photo: Six Nations
