Italy coach Nick Mallett on Wednesday unveiled four changes for Saturday's Six Nations match against Wales in Cardiff.
Reserve flyhalf Andrea Marcato wins his first cap in place of injured fullback and kicker David Bortolussi.
Scrumhalf Simone Picone replaces Pietro Travagli, Alberto Sgarbi takes over from injured winger Kaine Robertson, and prop Salvatore Perugini returns to win his 50th cap in place of Andrea Lo Cicero.
Mallett said finding a new scrumhalf had been a top priority since taking over after a World Cup which saw the last appearance of Italy legend Alessandro Troncon.
''When I took the job I thought Simone Picone was the right man to replace Alessandro Troncon, but he wasn't in ideal shape for the first two games''.
Mallett said Travagli had done well in the close defeats to Ireland and England, apart from some handling errors against England. ''I'll start Simone (Picone) against Wales but we'll need both of them during the course of the match''.
Two other Italians are set to rack up 50 caps against the unbeaten Welsh, lock Santiago Dellape and - on his 25th birthday - centre Mirco Bergamasco. Mallett said he hoped to have ex-captain Marco Bortolami on the bench. Bortolami has recovered from an eye-socket fracture but is now battling neck problems.
The game in Cardiff will be the 15th match between the two sides.
The 14 previous encounters produced 11 wins for Wales, two for Italy, and one draw.
But Wales haven't beaten Italy for three years.
In 2006 in Cardiff Italy held Wales 18-18 and last year beat them 23-20 in Rome. Here is the Italy squad for Saturday's game in Cardiff (1500 GMT): 15 Andrea Marcati (Benetton Treviso); 14 Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso); 13 Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne); 12 Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais); 11 Ezio Galon (Overmach Cariparma); 10 Andrea Masi (Biarritz Olympiques); 9 Simon Picone (Benetton Treviso); 8 Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais) - captain; 7 Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais); 6 Josh Sole (Montepaschi Viadana); 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Ulster); 4 Santiago Dellape' (Biarritz Olympiques); 3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers); 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Cammi Calvisano); 1 Salvatore Perugini (Stade Toulousain). Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia (Racing Metro Paris); 17 Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing Metro Paris); 18 Marco Bortolami (Gloucester RFC); 19 Alessandro Zanni (Cammi Calvisano); 20 Pietro Travagli (Overmach Cariparma); 21 Paolo Buso (Cammi Calvisano); 22 Enrico Patrizio (Carrera Petrarca Padova).
