Worcester sign Italian international Renato Giammarioli

Worcester Warriors have signed Italian back row Renato Giammarioli from Zebre - the club have confirmed.

Giammarioli is the second Italian signing of the Steve Diamond era at Sixways, with fellow Azzurri Hame Faiva also on his way to the club.

The 6'2, 111kg No.8 is the seventh signing by 'Lead Rugby Consultant' Diamond, who will next season takeover from Alan Solomons as director of rugby.

Diamond has already signed Curtis Langdon and Cameron Neild from Sale, Fergus Lee-Warner and Santiago Medrano from the Western Force, hooker Hame Faiva from Benetton and Russian prop Valery Morozov from Bath.

“Renato is a great addition to the squad. He is a very ambitious player who has a fantastic skillset. His dynamic carrying and confrontational defence will serve Warriors next season,” said Diamond.

Giammarioli, 27, made his Italy debut in the 2017 Autumn Internationals as a replacement against South Africa. His most recent international match was against New Zealand in Rome in November.

After playing junior rugby for Frascati, Giammarioli moved on to Calvisano to play club rugby before joining Zebre.

In 2014 and 2015, he represented Italy at the Under-20 level before moving on to the Emerging Players squad and eventually becoming a senior international.

“I am very glad to start this new chapter of my career with Worcester Warriors,” Giammarioli said.

“I am sure it will be an amazing experience that will develop my life skills both as a player and a man.

“I am looking forward to meeting my team-mates and experiencing the glorious English rugby culture.”

The looseforward has already played against Worcester Warriors, facing them in the Challenge Cup earlier in the year.

Speaking previously about his recruitment tactic, Diamond said: "The players that are coming in are not massive names. But the skill of this job is making people into big names, not buying them.

“Worcester have been tempted to do that plenty of times, just big household rugby names who haven’t really delivered. That’s not my bag. My bag is to bring players with experience with domestic rugby and international rugby, who are solid dependable players who you can hopefully get 20 to 25 games out of a year.

"It’s got to be an age profile as well. You want people who are between 24 and 28, if you can, in their prime, who played 75 per cent of the games where they’re been before."