Paolo Odogwu has been named to the Italian training team for the 2023 World Cup. Credit: Dave Roger/REUTERS
Paolo Odogvu, the capless former Ous defender, is poised to turn his back on England after being unexpectedly named to Italy's training squad ahead of the World Cup in France later this year.
< p>Odogwu, who has been playing for France's Stade Français since the collapse of his former club last October, has played a somewhat infamous role in England's 2021 Six Nations campaign. Head coach Eddie Jones kept the center forward in the camp throughout the championship, never appearing for tests.
However, after Odogwu's move to Paris, he did not appear in the England squad under Steve Borthwick. Having made his way through the Leicester academy and playing for Sale's first team, the 26-year-old has been an England under-18 and under-20 international but is of Nigerian and Italian descent.
Now Odogwu is keen to explore this last path further by being named in the Italian national team for the first time in his career.
“There is too much of a gray area with England, the new managers, my performance in France and I feel like they would rather take someone from the premier league,” Odogwu told the Daily Mail earlier this year.
& #34;If England doesn't want to see me, I might have the opportunity to play for Italy. There's a lot to think about because once you've made your decision, you're all set. If I have the opportunity this year, I would love to go. Maybe I'll have to think about dyeing my hair blue! Let's see.
“I would love to go to the World Cup. It would be great. By the next World Cup [in 2027] I will be 30 and you never know what will happen.”
Odogwu is not the only Premier League connection to Kieran Crowley. #39;training team of 46 players. The 26-year-old is one of two no-holds-barred players, along with Dino Lamb, the Harlequins' castle. Lamb's Harlequins teammate, Tommaso Allan, is also included, along with front-row duo Danilo Fischetti and Marco Riccioni of the London Irish and Saracens respectively.
Sergio Parisse is looking forward to a fabulous farewell to Italy, though, and a record-breaking pole position The Rugby World Cup were dealt a blow when Italy's top scoring player was dropped from Crowley's team.
Pariss, 39, was planning to retire at the end of the 2019 World Cup, but swan song No. 8 was ruined by a typhoon Hagibis. His farewell to Rome was then rescheduled for the 2020 Six Nations, but due to the Covid pandemic, it never took place. Parisse has yet to play for Italy under Crowley, but he has been in top form this season at Toulon.
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