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A. Wainwright (14', 24'), D. Lake (28'), D. Edwards (43')
Tries
T. Bartolomeo (51'), T. Allan (68'), P. Garbisi (80')
D. Edwards (15', 25', 29', 44')
Conversions
P. Garbisi (52')
D. Edwards (47')
Drop Goals
Italy failed to record their best Guinness Men’s Six Nations finish when they were overrun by a Wales side hell bent on avoiding a third-straight whitewash.
Gonzalo Quesada’s side went down 31-17 after a blistering first half in which the hosts led 21-0. Steve Tandy’s team stretched their lead early in the second half, and while Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Tommaso Allan, and Paolo Garbisi scored late on, by then the damage had been done.
It means the Azzurri end with two wins from five, nine points, and in fourth place for the first time since 2007.
Here’s ATR’s take on the match…
Weathering The Storm, And Then…
That Wales came out as fired up as they did wouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone at the Principality Stadium, and Italy did well to calm the early onslaught and really should have opened the scoring.
First, Monty Ioane got his support line wrong when Tommaso Menoncello counter-attacked, then when it went to other side, they couldn’t work Louis Lynagh clear, and he eventually gave away a penalty as Wales’s defence rallied.
Throw in a missed penalty from Paolo Garbisi and they missed the chance for an early shot in the arm, a chance to quieten the crown and solid evidence that they could be on for another memorable victory in Cardiff.
Missed Chances
Those chances weren’t the only ones the Azzurri let slide. Later on, Ioane was bundled into touch after again failing to link up properly with Menoncello, and he and Marin had tries ruled out by the Television Match Official (TMO).
Reserve hooker Tommaso Di Bartolomeo scored Italy’s first try, but he was also held up over the line. Tommaso Allan and Garbisi’s tries mean that they scored more tries against Wales, than in another other match. They scored two against Scotland and Italy, and one apiece against Ireland and France.
Italy’s defence has improved markedly, but they have yet to claim a four-try bonus point. Quesada has the players to create chances, they now need to polish their attack, so they take them when they come their way.
Discipline Details
For once Italy finished the match without losing a player to the sinbin, after costly yellow cards against Ireland and France, and one they got away with against England.
They conceded 10 tries at the Principality, the same amount they conceded against England and six less than their other win, against Scotland. The difference was Wales made Italy pay. Three times the offended, three times Wales kicked to the corner for a lineout, and three times they popped up with tries soon after.
Worse yet, when Wales’s reserve tighthead Archie Griffin was sin-binned, they failed to build any momentum. Di Bartolomeo scored, but after that Wales did wonderfully well to hold onto the ball and looked the most likely to add to their score.
Backing The Bench
Quesada’s first act in trying to inject new life into his team came shortly after halftime when he replaced the entire front row with Di Barltolomeo, Giosuè Zilocchi and Mirco Spagnolo. Davide Odiase came on for Lorenzo Cannone at number eight just after the hour, and Riccardo Favretto replaced Niccolo Cannone with 11 remaining.
In the backline scrumhalf Stephen Varney came on for Alessandro Fusco on 53 minutes, Allan swapped with Lorenzo Pani on 62, and Marin replaced Brex after 69.
All three probably should have come on early. Wales-born Varney would have plenty to prove in his first run out of the Championship, Marin would want to build on his match-winning display against England, and Allan would have provided a calmer head at the back and a second playmaker who could also finish chances.
