Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada named Perpignan's Tommaso Allan at fullback on Friday for their Six Nations opener against Scotland, allowing Toulouse flier Ange Capuozzo to move to the wing.
Italy's record points-scorer in the Six Nations, Allan stepped away from the Italy side after their narrow 27-24 defeat by England in last season's tournament, citing his mental and physical well-being.
Allan, whose uncle John Allan played nine tests for Scotland in the 1990s, did not return until November against Argentina, when he came on as a substitute for the injured Capuozzo.
Injured himself, he then had to sit out the tests against Georgia and New Zealand.
He has featured in 12 matches for Perpignan this season and will be bidding to add to his Italian record 165 points in the Six Nations when he runs out at Murrayfield.
🇮🇹 The @Federugby side to take on Scotland 🤩#GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/BG6tsiNbLH
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) January 30, 2025
Quesada named a lively backline with Capuozzo, who has excelled for Toulouse this season, on one wing and Lyon's Monty Ioane on the other.
Between them lies the Treviso centre pairing of Tommaso Menoncello, the tournament's best player last year, and Juan Ignacio Brex.
Two more France-based players, Toulon's Paolo Garbisi and Lyon's Martin Page-Relo, are the half-backs.
Harlequins lock Dino Lamb, who played for England at Under-20 level, will add to his nine caps with his first appearance in the Six Nations while Treviso third row Michele Lamaro, who stacked up a tournament record 103 tackles in the 2024 campaign, retains the captain's armband.
Italy finished fifth last season even though it was one of their best-ever campaigns with a draw and two victories, one of which was a 31-29 win over Scotland in Rome.
ITALY (15-1): Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Michele Lamaro (capt), Lorenzo Cannone, Sebastian Negri; Federico Ruzza, Dino Lamb; Simone Ferrari, Giacomo Nicotera, Danilo Fischetti
REPLACEMENTS: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Luca Rizzoli, Marco Riccioni, Niccolo Cannone, Manuel Zuliani, Ross Vintcent, Alessandro Garbisi, Simone Gesi