Castrogiovanni was injured in the 19-15 defeat to England and it was initially thought the Leicester Tigers tighthead would miss the remainder of the Championship.

But the 30-year-old returned to the training squad for the match against Wales and has now been named as one of six changes by Jacques Brunel for the crucial clash against Scotland, in which the loser will receive the Wooden Spoon.

That has been Italy’s fate for the last four years but with the backing of the 80,000 capacity Stadio Olimpico, Brunel will be hoping to pick up his first victory since being appointed as Nick Mallett’s successor.

Brunel opts to change his half-backs for the third successive game, reverting to his original combination of fly-half Kris Burton and the recalled Edoardo Gori.

Also behind the scrum, winger Giovanbattista Venditti and centre Tommaso Benvenuti – who both scored against England in Italy’s last match in Rome – are calledin at the expense of Luke McLean and Alberto Sgarbi, with Gonzalo Canale switching to inside centre.

In the pack, Treviso’s Roberto Barbieri replaces Simone Favaro at openside while lock Marco Bortolami will win his 93rd cap for the Azzurri as he comes in for Cornelius Van Zyl.

No.8 Sergio Parisse retains the captaincy as Italy look to defend their six-year unbeaten record against Scotland in the Italian capital.

On the bench, Australian-born lock Joshua Furno will make his RBS 6 Nations debut if he comes on while dynamic Fijian-born back-rower Manoa Vosawai is in line to make his first appearance of the 2012 Championship.