ITALY COACH CONOR O’Shea hinted at his future plans for the Six Nations strugglers on Monday, by omitting experienced prop Martin Castrogiovanni and including several new faces in a 30-man squad for a summer tour of the Americas.
Former Harlequins director O’Shea will take up residence in Italy this summer, before beginning the tough task of transforming a side left battered and demoralised after their last Six Nations campaign.
Italy, who finished bottom of the table, face Argentina, the United States and Canada this summer in what will be their first tests under the helm of the former Ireland fullback.
Among the notable absentees from O’Shea’s 30-strong list are Castrogiovanni, long-time captain Sergio Parisse and back-row forwards Francesco Minto and Alessandro Zanni.
While Stade Francais back-rower Parisse, Minto and Zanni have all been rested for the summer tour, Castrogiovanni looks to have paid the price for a recent spell of off-the-pitch shenanigans.
The 119-times capped Castrogiovanni was recently suspended by his French Top 14 club Racing 92 after being caught with players from football club Paris Saint-Germain partying in Las Vegas.
At the time, Castrogiovanni was supposed to be in Nottingham to support his team in the European Champions Cup semi-final against Leicester. Not picked for that game, he informed Racing he had to return home to Argentina on family business.
Castrogiovanni was caught out when PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic posted photographs of him in the Nevada casino city on his Instagram account.
“He hurt the club and his team-mates,” said Racing’s forwards coach Laurent Travers. “And in some ways, he has hurt the entire staff.”
The absences, meanwhile, should give a clutch of new Azzurri faces a chance to show O’Shea what they can do.
Centres Tommaso Castello and Tommaso Boni, who have earned previous selections but not yet played for Italy, prop Simone Ferrari and back-row forward Maxime Mbanda are among four debutants on the list.