The Gloucester lock, who will win his 77th cap, will replace Carlo Antonio Del Fava after he was ruled out for four weeks with a knee injury.

Coach Nick Mallett has also made a change in the backs with Andrea Masi getting the nod on the right wing in place of Kaine Robertson.

Scrum-half Pablo Canavosio has also been called onto the bench in place of Simon Picone.

Captain Leonardo Ghiraldini said: “We want to be competitive in any game and win at least one match in the tournament.

“It will be very important for us to focus on our strengths, to keep improving as a team and not challenge our opponents on their strengths.

“We need to keep doing the good things that we did against Ireland, like our defence in the second half, and try to learn from the mistakes we made in that game in order to avoid making them in the future.

Italy: Luke McLean, Andrea Masi, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Mirco Bergamasco, Craig Gower, Tito Tebaldi; Alessandro Zanni, Mauro Bergamasco, Josh Sole, Marco Bortolami, Quintin Geldenhuys, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini (capt) Salvatore Perugini.

Replacements: Fabio Ongaro, Matias Aguero, Valerio Bernabo, Paul Derbyshire, Pablo Canavosio, Riccardo Bocchino, Kaine Robertson.