Lo Cicero to lead the Azzurri
Prop Andrea Lo Cicero has been chosen to lead Italy on their upcoming tour of South America which kicks off in June.
Lo Cicero, 31, leads the side in the absence of Marco Bortolami, who is one of several senior players being rested for the trip.
Coach Pierre Berbizier has selected a 26-man squad as he looks to fine-tune ahead of September's World Cup.
Italy are scheduled to play Test matches against Uruguay (June 2) and Argentina (June 9).
Italy squad: Matias Aguero, Robert Barbieri, Valerio Bernabo, David Bortolussi, Christopher Burton, Pablo Canavosio, Roland De Marigny, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Carlo Festuccia, Alessio Galante, Ezio Galon, Paul Griffen, Andrea Lo Cicero, Roberto Mandelli, Carlos Nieto, Fabio Ongaro, Silvio Orlando, Enrico Patrizio, Antonio Pavanello, Matteo Pratichetti, Kaine Robertson, Josh Sole, Fabio Staibano, Marko Stanojevic, Alessandro Stoica, Alessandro Zanni