Wales v Italy 6 Nations - Saturday 1st Feb 2020 - match thread

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Wales v Italy match thread

Wales



Italy





Teams:

Wales:

L Halfpenny (Scarlets); J McNicholl (Scarlets), G North (Ospreys), H Parkes (Scarlets), J Adams (Cardiff Blues); D Biggar (Northampton), T Williams (Cardiff Blues); W Jones (Scarlets), K Owens (Scarlets), D Lewis (Cardiff Blues), J Ball (Scarlets), A W Jones (Ospreys, capt), A Wainwright (Dragons), J Tipuric (Ospreys), T Faletau (Bath).

Replacements: R Elias (Scarlets), R Evans (Scarlets), L Brown (Dragons), C Hill (Dragons), R Moriarty (Dragons), R Webb (Toulon), J Evans (Cardiff Blues), N Tompkins (Saracens)


15. Matteo Minozzi (Wasps) – 16 caps
14. Leonardo Sarto (Benetton Rugby) – 34 caps
13. Luca Morisi (Benetton Rugby) – 29 caps
12. Carlo Canna (Zebre) – 39 caps
11. Mattia Bellini (Zebre) – 22 caps
10. Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby) – 54 caps
9. Callum Braley (Gloucester) – 5 caps

1. Giosuè Zilocchi (Zebre) – 2 caps
2. Luca Bigi (c) (Zebre) – 24 caps
3. Andrea Lovotti (Zebre) – 40 caps
4. Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby) – 117 caps
5. Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby) – uncapped
6. Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby) – 22 caps
7. Jake Polledri (Gloucester) – 13 caps
8. Abraham Steyn (Benetton Rugby) – 36 caps

Replacements

16. Federico Zani (Benetton Rugby) – 13 caps
17. Danilo Fischetti (Zebre) – uncapped
18. Marco Riccioni (Benetton Rugby) – 7 caps
19. Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Rugby) – 4 caps
20. Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby) – 26 caps
21. Giovanni Licata (Zebre) – 8 caps
22. Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre) – 36 caps
23. Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby) – 23 caps

[RDW]

For all the complete and utter Welsh dominance they need to keep concentrating - still not got the 4th.

[TightHEAD]

New oggie oggie oggie chat in the stadium!!!! Lol

[Pot Hale]

Right - time for pub and hope next match is better fare - not holding my breath though.

[TightHEAD]

Glad I turned down the free tickets I was offered.

[BigGee]

and eventually the BP

Cut it a bit fine though!

[tigertattie]

North needs to give his 40th try to AWJ

[mikey_dragon]

You were right about Webb.

[mikey_dragon]

Brown much better at the scrums. Cardiff fans very quiet

[RDW]

Job done for Wales - BP win, 0 points conceded, good debutants and no apparent injuries. Still plenty to work on though to keep them grounded.

[tigertattie]

I was going to do a dream team.

I was going to put Adams in

I didn’t bother.

Oh well

[mikey_dragon]

Not the best game from us but glad we played the full 80. Need to drop Dillon Lewis for next week and have Gareth Davies in the 23.

[Brendan]

Seems Italy were the ones who beat themselves.  Repeatedly messed up close to the line.  Maybe they have whiteline fever like Scotland use to.  Their u20s are doing good and are better than Scotland and the equal of Ireland and Wales.  Smith got Cheetahs to play better can he do better as the tournament goes on. Their younger players are better than the older ones but who will teach them to win.

Wales have to worry about the scrum, Italy aren't the strong scrum they once were, so what will the better packs do to them. They got the TBP and usually start slow so service as usual I suppose

[majesticimperialman]

Great win for Wales. played some fine rugby against a Italy side who did not really pose much of a challenge.

 Still keeping Italy to nil score showed how more match harden Wales are,compared to Italy.

[RiscaGame]

Job done Wales. BP win and nil conceded. I’m not sure what people want. Luke Pearce didn’t help the game there at all. I’m sure Italians didn’t bother supporting their body weight every ruck, plus playing 9s and clearing people past the ruck every game. Then swimming up the side every driving maul we tried to start.

Glad we nilled them. No coincidence we looked better with all the Dragons on

[lostinwales]

Deliberate knock on at the end there? Not that it matters.

[mikey_dragon]

Deliberate knock on at the end there? Not that it matters.

Doesn’t it need to go forward for that?

[No 7&1/2]

Yes it does need to go forward for a knock. Top class defending by you know who!

[maestegmafia]

Great game well done Wales

[Gooseberry]

Tompkins to start the next game? Yet to see how he handles defending at test level but his general attacking play looked top drawer. No sign of being overawed by what a few weeks ago wouldve been an unexpected first cap.

Overall it's hard to know where Walws are playing poor opposition but a pretty comprehensive all round performance and their biggest win in the 6 nations for years is a good sign

[Heaf]

Solid win for Wales - you can only play what's in front of you and they did a good job and kept a clean sheet.

[Guest]

That was an enjoyable game. I'm not sure the reason for the negativity on here. Get some tickets next time everyone or go to the pub. It's much more fun.

[maestegmafia]

Why do I keep thinking Aaron wainwright is called Rob wainwright?

Is there a Rob wainwright???

former Scottish Captain back in the 1990s.

[maestegmafia]

In the cold light of morning you can see the game without the excitement, anticipation and fret of the day. Not a bad performance by Wales, some good moments by italy too. A rather stifling performance by the referee who got a little bit George Clancy in his empathy with the players.

Welsh attack looks good, defence looks 60% there, (first game new systems) set piece needs accuracy and repeatability when it’s right. Breakdown coach is paying off, lots of turnovers.

Next week a better test in Dublin, maybe a few positional changes with personnel, a few tough calls and a lots of set piece practice from 1-8.

[Taylorman]

Pivac gets what? B+ for his first outing? Job done. Four tougher matches to come. Good way to get the ice breaker out if the way I guess. Meanwhile Gats managed to overcome a solid Blues start and also had a first up win. Overall a solid if unspectacular start.

[maestegmafia]

Pivac gets what? B+ for his first outing? Job done. Four tougher matches to come. Good way to get the ice breaker out if the way I guess. Meanwhile Gats managed to overcome a solid Blues start and also had a first up win. Overall a solid if unspectacular start.

I was at dinner with kiwi friends last night and we had watched the Super rugby more chat. About that than six nations... good result for gats surprised to see the Canes result?

I would say a B for Pivac on his first competitive outing. Maybe being harsh on what was a performance and result that was better than most expected. The were a few dropped passes, missed throws, iffy scrums and dead time early in the third quarter. Though some of that can be blamed on the ref and opposition.

This was an enthusiastic performance, great for them to get the first match out the way. Bigger test in Dublin next week against an Irish team who I doubt many of their fans would rate their performance above a D.

[mikey_dragon]

Cardiff people still quiet about Dillon Lewis...

[WELL-PAST-IT]

I thought that Wales struggled in some key areas, scrummage looked week and the line out sloppy, they will need to improve against the better teams.

Wales as usual were lethal on other teams mistakes, they didn't create and awful lot, by give them loose ball and they will cause mayhem.

Thought the the third try was lucky, Welsh player knocked the ball on whilst lying on the ground, knocked it out of an Italians hand, however I thought Tompkins was unlucky to have been adjudged to have knocked on for the North "try". I couldn't see any contact.

People have been questioning the impact of the Sarries players and the cap breaches on the England squad; don't take this as a knock, but how do the Welshmen in the squad take to someone who is part of that Sarries squad and who hasn't got a Welsh bone in his body. I am genuinely interested, will he have just been accepted or will there have been a bit of moaning about overpaid Englishman.......?

[mikey_dragon]

Why are people, particularly English and Scottish people, always so obsessed with telling us how ‘Wales capitalised on something overlooked by the ref’- so on and so fourth? The opposition never seems to get a mention, even when they don’t drive straight (neither did Wales) at the scrum, or when they infringe at every single breakdown. This place will blow up over the next few weeks, especially with HERSH having incriminating photos of the mods.

[mikey_dragon]

Tompkins looked good. Very hungry, and seemed to want to always put his body on the line for the jersey and therefore his team. He’ll be welcomed with open arms. He’ll be playing in Wales next season if the rumours are true. 

Maybe some of you should concentrate on the Harrison’s, Shields’ and Heinz’ of the rugby world?

[Gooseberry]

Cant the welsh posters stick to falling out with Miaow rather than taking everything as a direct assault on them? We are all proud independent GREAT BRITAINERS now and should be uniting against the EU tyrants of Itlay France and most of Ireland.

[mikey_dragon]

I'm just curious as to why it happens so often, every single year? I never see it at that level on threads not involving Wales. It's what drove a load off Welsh posters away from this site.

[No 7&1/2]

So Dillan lewis was a bit better than has been made out then.

[Yoda]

Had the feeling of a training run after 20 mins, Wales back row on point as usual. Tight five looked a little shaky at times but Italian props were not driving straight. I think the Welsh boys will be a little disappointed not to take more opportunities in attack but that will come. Tomkins to start next week and North back to wing and you will start to be a real running threat. I never believed the whole Wales are rebuilding rubbish they will always be favourites at home in six nations in my mind. As for Italy meh what next for them? I thought the writing was on the wall when they turned up to Twickenham with the sole intention to reduce the score line with the whole ruck debacle. Yes very funny for about 10 mins but hardly going out there wanting to win, as soon as a team does that it takes the form of a tour team having a laugh and massively devalues international sport. They need drilling day in day out at the basics and work from there, they used to front up in the pack and give you a going over for 60mins but even that has evaporated. They would do well to promote young players and expose them to proper men's rugby with the aim to improve year on year. This current state of affairs is unsustainable. Sad times, let's hope things improve over the next few rounds. Dublin for Wales next week should be a right old ding dong and an arm wrestle. Looking forward to it.

[maestegmafia]

They would do well to promote young players and expose them to proper men's rugby with the aim to improve year on year. This current state of affairs is unsustainable. Sad times, let's hope things improve over the next few rounds. Dublin for Wales next week should be a right old ding dong and an arm wrestle. Looking forward to it.

That is explicitly what they are doing, their under 20s team is really performing well. They have plenty of home grown talented players coming through. They are building from the roots up. It will happen, but Italy has never done anything quickly, but what they do well they do very well.

[Guest]

So Dillan lewis was a bit better than has been made out then.

He's very good in the loose but clearly cannot scrummage at this level yet. Worth persisting with as you can't teach what he can do to Samson Lee. Don't think he'll start next week though.

[Guest]

Had the feeling of a training run after 20 mins, Wales back row on point as usual. Tight five looked a little shaky at times but Italian props were not driving straight. I think the Welsh boys will be a little disappointed not to take more opportunities in attack but that will come. Tomkins to start next week and North back to wing and you will start to be a real running threat. I never believed the whole Wales are rebuilding rubbish they will always be favourites at home in six nations in my mind. As for Italy meh what next for them? I thought the writing was on the wall when they turned up to Twickenham with the sole intention to reduce the score line with the whole ruck debacle. Yes very funny for about 10 mins but hardly going out there wanting to win, as soon as a team does that it takes the form of a tour team having a laugh and massively devalues international sport. They need drilling day in day out at the basics and work from there, they used to front up in the pack and give you a going over for 60mins but even that has evaporated. They would do well to promote young players and expose them to proper men's rugby with the aim to improve year on year. This current state of affairs is unsustainable. Sad times, let's hope things improve over the next few rounds. Dublin for Wales next week should be a right old ding dong and an arm wrestle. Looking forward to it.

I think the Italian forwards got left behind by the leap in professionalism that happened about a decade ago to be honest. When nutrition and bulking and managing the referee became the way to play I think the hard nosed old pros, particularly in the front row, just didn't translate to the top level anymore. But as mentioned, Italian rugby and O'Shea did a lot with systems and the lower levels and it should pay off eventually. I didn't realise Franco Smith was only an interim coach that seems strange. They need to get a coach with a winning record now, someone who can take a team and make it punch above its weight. They're just in the awkward area of being a lot better than the tier 2 teams like Georgia but that means they end up playing all the best teams and lose a lot. If Japan played Italy 10 times I'd expect Italy to win at least 6, they're not as bad as people think, just at an awkward stage in their development. The point about Italy is they still have a lot of potential to tap in to. I'd be just as worried about Scotland to be honest as a traditional rugby nation that has been uncompetitive for 20 years now.

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