Italy coach Pierre Berbizier has recalled veteran scrum-half Alessandro Troncon for this weekend's Six Nations Championship clash with England at Twickenham.
Troncon - Italy's most capped player - has not played for the Azzurri since March 2005.
Berbizier has stood by Andrea Scanavacca at fly-half after he proved his fitness following a rib injury in the early stages of last weekend's 39-3 home defeat to France.
Scanavacca was replaced by Ramiro Pez in Rome, but the Bayonne man will have to be content with a place on the bench.
Berbizier said: "Some choices are down to the injuries we have been forced to deal with while working this week, like those to Mauro Bergamasco and Andrea Masi.
"In any case this line-up will help us see how some players do at a high level and will help us work on the squad ahead of the World Cup, and to give a better mental and athletic freshness to the team after the first Six Nations game.
"The decision to play Troncon at number nine from the first minute also comes from that evaluation, and it will be interesting to see how Alessandro does as a starter after two years since his last starting appearance for the Azzurri."
Italy (v England): R De Marigny (Calvisano); K Robertson (Arix Viadana), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), D Dallan (Stade Francais); A Scanavacca (Calvisano), A Troncon (Clermont Auvergne); A Lo Cicero (L'Aquila), C Festuccia (Gran Parma), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), S Dellape' (Biarritz), M Bortolami (Gloucester, captain), J Sole (Arix Viadana), M Zaffiri (Calvisano), S Parisse (Stade Francais). Replacements: F Ongaro (Saracens), S Perugini (Stade Toulousain), V Bernabo' (Calvisano), R Mandelli (Gran Parma), P Griffen (Calvisano), R Pez (Bayonne), M Pratichetti (Calvisano).
