The giant Treviso number eight has not worn the blue shirt since the Azzurris RBS 6 Nations win over Scotland last March but returns in Saturdays trial match with an All Star XV in the Sicilian town of Catania.

Lets just say that I am very eager to play for the national side, said Parisse.

These have been eleven very difficult months in which I have been working on my own to return to the form I had shown in the previous seasons.

I had been hoping to play in the November Test matches but in our first Heineken Cup game with Leinster I hurt my shoulder and I saw my chances go up in smoke just as I was getting back to my top form.

He continued: I am looking forward to the match in Catania and I hope to play the entire Six Nations campaign so we can show what a good back row we have.