And he will start for Italy against Tonga in the first of their autumn internationals, in Brescia's Stadio Rigamonti.
He said: "Brescia is where I was when I started my international career and I'm delighted to be back here to prepare for an important match like Tonga.
"I arrived here when I was very young, we won the title in 2008 when I was captain and this club means a lot to me and lots of other players in the national team.
"The match against Tonga will be anything but easy, we will have to start on the right track from the start. We need to stop them playing their own rugby which we know can be very dangerous."
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