Morgan suffered the injury in Wales defeat to Scotland last month and after undergoing an operation he was not expected to resume full contact work until next week.

But Morgan replaces Lee Byrne at full-back in an otherwise unchanged starting XV from the defeat to France in Paris.

Winger Mark Jones and prop Chris Horsman have recovered from rib and ankle injuries and are both included in the side, while Gareth Thomas returns from a four-week suspension on the bench.

Thomas has not played rugby since appearing as a replacement in Toulouses fractious European Cup win over Ulster on January 21.

The former Wales captain was banned by a European Rugby Cup disciplinary panel for aggressive behaviour towards the Ulster spectators during the game.

Jenkins anticipates a testing scrummaging battle from Italys powerful pack and has named two props on the bench.

Adam Jones and Duncan Jones are joined by lock Brent Cockbain and versatile forward Jonathan Thomas.

The return of Gareth Thomas means Ceri Sweeney and Jamie Robinson, a try-scorer against France in Paris, drop out of the squad.

Head coach Gareth Jenkins said: Kevin is delighted to be given the all clear ahead of Saturday. We had been hoping he would recover in time to make the Italy game and its a welcome boost to us all to have someone of his calibre  and in his current form - available to play.

Gareth will also strengthen the squad and he takes his place on the bench more than ready to make his return after seven weeks of no rugby.

But hes been training hard and has all the experience necessary to make an impact if called upon.

The Italians probably have the strongest scrum in the Six Nations and there is a certain amount of horses for courses in selection to reflect that.

Weve gone for a five forwards, two backs split on the bench to give us front row cover which means weve had to get the balance right.

With only two backs there weve looked at Gareth for his versatility and both Jamie Robinson and Ceri Sweeney have been unlucky.

We had a couple of bumps and bruises after our encounter with France, but both Mark and Chris have passed fitness tests and Kevin has made a positive recovery from surgery.

Wales team:
K Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons); M Jones, (Llanelli Scarlets), T Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), J Hook (Ospreys), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Llanelli Scarlets, captain), D Peel (Llanelli Scarlets); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), M Rees (Llanelli Scarlets), C Horsman (Worcester), I Gough (Newport Gwent Dragons), A-W Jones (Ospreys), A Popham (Llanelli Scarlets), M WIlliams (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys).

Replacements: R Thomas (Cardiff Blues), D Jones (Ospreys), A Jones (Ospreys), B Cockbain (Ospreys), J Thomas (Ospreys), M Phillips (Cardiff Blues), G Thomas (Toulouse).