Italy's talisman in doubt for England test
INJURY UPDATE: Italy captain Sergio Parisse’s chance of featuring in the last two games of this year’s Six Nations are fairly slim.
The Italian talisman was scheduled to return to the field this weekend, however, he failed to recover from concussion in time to play for Stade Francais in Sunday’s big Top 14 fixture versus leaders Toulouse.
Parisse suffered the knock to his head a fortnight ago when lining out for his club as a substitute in their French league defeat to Lyon.
The 136-time Test international already missed the Azzurri’s 16-26 defeat to Ireland on Sunday with a concussion and is a doubt for Six Nations match against England and France.
According to tp the Top14 side Stade Francais, Parisse needs to take additional exams in the coming days to determine the exact day that he can return to play.
Parisse’s potential absence means that forwards Jake Polledri and Oliviero Fabiani could make their first international appearances of the year as they are included on the 35-man list.
Uncapped pair of former England Under-20 captain Callum Braley and hooker Marco Riccioni are also brought into the fold.
Italy is looking to snap a record run of 20 straight Six Nations defeats dating back to 2015 as they travel to England on March 9 and welcome France to Rome a week later.
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