Pavanello was then basically dropped from the Italian main team for the whole tenure of Nick Mallett as head-coach (2007–11): though formally in the list of players eligible for taking the pitch in the 2010 Six Nations Championship, he only played in three test matches. Despite good efforts with the Italian 'A' team at the 2011 Churchill Cup, he was not selected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand; his drop caused some criticism since the Italian team had poorly performed at line-out at the 2011 Six Nations Championship, whereas Treviso second-row led by Pavanello had proved consistent in this specific fundamental during the same season, but only fellow second-row teammate Corniel van Zyl was selected for the World Cup.