The Conad LAquila utility back made the most recent of his 16 Test appearances in Novembers clash witht Canada but was omitted from Kirwans squad for the opening three RBS 6 Nations matches against Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

However, after three successive defeats, Kirwan has decided to bring back the South African-born 30-year-old as the Azzurri attempt to find a winning formula.

And an overjoyed Peens is keen not to let this opportunity pass him by.

I'm so delighted at this call, and I am sure if I have the chance to play I will do my best and do all I can to help my team-mates, he said.

I was a bit surprised and I'm so happy, in fact I have just called my family to tell them I had a call from John Kirwan to be part of the Azzurri squad.

Peens, who made his debut for Italy against Wales in the 2002 Six Nations having moved from South Africa in 1994, feels his team-mates have been unfortunate not to have picked up a victory so far in this years competition.

I believe Italy have a good squad, who have come a long way. Against the Irish they played very well and I thought we had the chance to win, he said, referring to Italys opening match of the RBS 6 Nations, which they lost 28-18 in Rome.

As for the Wales game, I dont think we realised how strong the Welsh are at present, and against Scotland we missed all our chances even though the home team were worse than us.