Festuccia returns to Wasps

Edd Shervington, who came out of retirement to provide injury cover for Wasps at hooker, will leave the club shortly to return to his farming business in Wales.

Festuccia, who previously made over 60 appearances for Wasps during his three seasons with the club, returns to provide cover after injuries to Tom Cruse and Wasps’ Senior Academy hooker George Edgson, with Tommy Taylor named in England’s 34-man-squad for the Six Nations.

Speaking about Festuccia’s return, Wasps’ director of rugby Dai Young said: "We’d firstly like to thank Edd [Shervington] for coming out of retirement to help us and we will wish him well when he returns to Wales. As we saw, he was needed on the bench against Toulouse due to the injuries we picked up in that area.

"With Thomas [Young] named in the Wales squad and James [Haskell], Nathan [Hughes] and Tommy [Taylor] named in the England squad, having Carlo in the mix will give us flexibility with Ashley [Johnson], and we know Carlo will do a brilliant job for us.

"Carlo was a very popular member of the squad during his time here and has a good relationship with the players and coaches, as well as an understanding of how we like to play. You know exactly what you’re going to get from Carlo; physicality, strong work at the set-piece and a player who will give his all for the squad, so we’re looking forward to him being with us for the next few months,"

Festuccia added: "I'm really pleased to return to the Wasps’ environment after three fantastic years with the club. It has been great to see the team doing really well this year and I'm very happy to help them until the end of the season. I have enjoyed being back home in Italy, but it has been a very tough six months on the rugby side. I wish Zebre the very best for the rest of the season and I look forward to meeting back up with the Wasps’ squad and Wasps fans,"