Italy will play their home matches in the 2012 Six Nations championship at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) announced on Wednesday.
The move was made necessary in order to allow redevelopment of their traditional home, the Flaminio Stadium, also in Rome.
Italy are due to host the 2011 champions England on February 11 and Scotland on March 17.
The Flaminio currently has a capacity of 32,000 and the FIR hopes that the works will increase this to 42,000.
The FIR is hoping to fill the 72,000 seat Olympic Stadium - which was used to host the 1960 Games - in the same way as it did the 80,000-seat San Siro in Milan when New Zealand appeared in November 2009.
Initially, the FIR had threatened on April 2 to go and play in Florence if work was not performed at Flaminio.
"Let us hope that in the coming years we will have a Flaminio Stadium that meets fully all the requirements of the tournament," said FIR president Giancarlo Dondi.
AFP
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