The 28-year-old Haimona, who qualified for the Azzurri through the residency rule, impressed during his three appearances in the Autumn -- scoring 35 points.
Head coach Jacques Brunel made two changes to the side that lost 22-6 to South Africa in their last international in November, George Biagi replacing the injured Quintin Geldenhuys in the second row while flanker Francesco Minto returns for Samuela Vunisa.
Included on the bench is uncapped Treviso back-rower Marco Barbini, along with four others who are new to the Six Nations championship: hooker Andrea Manici, prop Dario Chistolini, lock Marco Fuser and scrum-half Guglielmo Palazzani.
Team: 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Leonardo Sarto, 13-Michele Campagnaro, 12-Luca Morisi, 11-Luke McLean, 10-Kelly Haimona, 9-Edoardo Gori; 8-Sergio Parisse (captain), 7-Francesco Minto, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 5-George Biagi, 4-Joshua Furno, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1-Matias Aguero
Replacements: 16-Andrea Manici, 17-Alberto de Marchi, 18-Dario Chistolini, 19-Marco Fuser, 20-Marco Barbini, 21-Guglielmo Palazzani, 22-Tommaso Allan, 23-Giovambattista Venditt
(Writing by Justin Palmer,; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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