Franchises based in Rome and the northern town of Viadana have been chosen by Italy's rugby federation (FIR) to play in the Celtic League in 2010 when the competition is scheduled to open to Italian teams.
The FIR said in a statement that it would recommend the Praetorians formation put together by Rugby Roma, Capitolina and Lazio to the Celtic League board pending further checks.
It has given a provisional green light to the Aironi (Herons) bid led by 2002 champions Viadana of Lombardy, although at least some games will be played in the neighbouring region of Emilia Romagna at Reggio Emilia.
The FIR hopes having representatives in the Welsh, Scottish and Irish league will boost standards after national coach Nick Mallett partly blamed the poor quality of domestic rugby when Italy lost all five of their Six Nations games this year.
The Celtic League has said two Italian teams will be admitted in the 2010/11 season if conditions are met regarding the viability of the franchises, television rights and the stadium standards.
The decision to give the nod to an outfit from Rome, where Italy play their Six Nations matches, could cause controversy as the heartland of Italian rugby is in the north and domestic champions Treviso and a north-western bid both missed out.
The FIR also announced that Italy's Nov. 21 test against world champions South Africa would be played in Florence and their game against Samoa the following week would take place in Ascoli.
