Martin Castrogiovanni has left the Italy World Cup squad early because he requires surgery on a tumour which doctors believe to be benign.
According to Planet Rugby,the Italian tighthead missed the Ireland game due to the tumour and the need for surgery and he will be joined on the sidelines by Michele Rizzo and Gonzalo Garcia after they both picked up knee injuries.
Italy, who cannot qualify from Pool D due to their defeat against Ireland on Sunday, still have to face Romania in their final game which they have to win in order to secure third place in the group and automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup, which will be held in Japan.
Despite Italy having only one game left in the World Cup, they have decided to call up forwards Alberto De Marchi and Andrea Lovetti in order to give coach Jacques Brunel options ahead of the game.
Italy have been beset by injury problems at this World Cup, perhaps being most affected by the absence of captain Sergio Parisse who missed the first two games.
However, if they beat Romania in their final group game on Sunday then Italy will be happy with their World Cup, with the prospect of beating Ireland and France to qualification from their pool never being a realistic ambition.
