The Stadio Olimpico in Rome will be the interim home of Italian rugby during the 2013 RBS 6 Nations, while the Stadio Flaminio gets a long-awaited refurbishment.

Situated two and a half miles north of the Vatican City with the river Tiber running alongside it, the 82,000-capacity Olimpico is one of Italy's most revered sporting arenas.

The stadium was built in 1928 and took centre stage in the 1960 Rome Olympics as the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics events were staged there.

Currently it is home to two football teams: AS Roma and SS Lazio, who share the ground for their home league games in Serie A.

The running track around the pitch means fans will be farther from the action than they were at the intimate Flaminio.

But as the 80,000 spectators who watched Italy play New Zealand at the San Siro in 2009 showed, Italian rugby has an enthusiastic and very vocal following.

Italy will move back to the Flaminio when work has finished on upping its capacity to 42,000, which could take until 2014.