Key occasions
YELLOW CARD! Archie Griffin (Wales)
52 minutes. Griffin entered the maul illegally within the lead up which the ref thought of cynical within the scoring zone.
TRY! Wales 31 – 7 Italy (Tommaso di Bartolomeo)
51 minutes. Italy resolve to make me look silly by first successful a scrum penalty, then rolling a maul from a lineout over the Wales line for di Bartolomeo to attain. The defence was very half-hearted, it have to be mentioned.
Garbisi provides the conversion.
48 minutes. Wales have been stable and their enchancment of the previous few weeks has been maintained, however Italy have made it very straightforward by being woeful. Their defence is sluggish, the self-discipline is appalling and their set piece is prefer it’s fabricated from rotting pallets.
DROP GOAL! Wales 31 – 0 Italy (Dan Edwards)
47 minutes. Italy drop the ball out from beneath the posts on to Edwards, forty metres out. He carries the ball ahead a couple of metres then wallops a drop-goal over with all the arrogance of a person who has had jiffy. And it simply received higher!
“Did not see this coming!” cries Matthew Dony. “Italy will no doubt step up a gear in the second half but Wales have been brilliant. In the context of recent years, this has been an astonishing half of rugby. More of the same, please”
TRY! Wales 28 – 0 Italy (Dan Edwards)
44 minutes. Wales are rapidly again into the 22, with the ball being moved sensibly in phases earlier than large runs from Carre and Wainwright set them up for a return to the suitable hand facet. Edwards receives the ball and runs on an arced run across the drained Italy defence to attain.
He then provides two factors. That’s the bonus level for Wales and that is formally changing into a rout.
42 minutes. Zero p.c nonsense from Fusco who merely catches the restart and instantly hammers it to the touch. Wales win a tidy lineout and are again on the assault, Mee once more to the fore carrying strongly as much as the 22 earlier than the go-forward fizzles out and so a smart kick is shipped into the nook to place Ioane beneath strain.
Second Half!
Dan Edwards restarts the match with a kick deep into Italian territory.
“I can’t really complain as I am sitting on my balcony in Greece watching a beautiful sunset surrounded by the Φιλοξενία of my adopted people, which is loosely translated as a version of ‘Hwyl’” reviews Joanne Hartland. “Things could only be improved if anybody here was showing the rugby but Guardian minute-by-minute is my saviour. So sending everybody Γιάμας , Iechyd Dda, and Salute. I’m so glad to see us ahead at halftime. Cymru am Byth!”
I don’t find out about can’t complain, Joanne, however you actually shouldn’t complain.
HALF TIME! Wales 21 – 0 Italy
40+1 minutes. Italy navigate a tough 5m defensive scrum for Garbisi to chip out of play to finish the half.
39 minutes. There’s no catch-maul-try chain of occasions from Wales this time, and the ball results in midfield. Wales are on the 5m line beneath the posts, however the ball is nudged ahead in touch.
38 minutes. Pani runs exhausting into midfield and instantly into Olympic sprinting’s personal Rhys Carre, who not solely stops him however then stoops over to clamp on the ball and win a penalty.
Edwards places it within the nook.
37 minutes. A scrum takes some time to finish; at one level wanting like a Wales penalty however Ref Ridley concludes either side have been popping up on the identical time.
When it lastly completes James spills the ball in touch on an enormous crash ball angled run.
33 minutes. Wales strive a couple of phases on the midway line earlier than Williams kicks one in direction of the nook that Fusco covers and marks within the 22.
31 minutes. Italy are in all types of hassle right here. Wales are assured and have the higher hand within the set piece which has introduced three tries, whereas the Italians seem to have misplaced the ref solely as he’s seeing infringements from them all over the place. The newest penalty given away by a blue shirt is at a ruck within the Wales half.
TRY! Wales 21 – 0 Italy (Dewi Lake)
29 minutes. The Welsh pack have the Italians on toast up to now by way of the lineout maul and so it proves once more after Edwards places it within the nook. The ball goes to the tail and Lake does the honours from the again of the rumbling maul.
Edwards converts.
28 minutes. Wales win the ball again on the restart and spring up the suitable of the sphere, James chasing and gathering a grubber kick within the Italian 22. They transfer the ball left the place there’s a large overlap, however the passes usually are not good and this permits the defence to scramble and engulf Adams. The ball comes again to the opposite facet of the pitch the place Ioane is penalised for a ruck infringement.
TRY! Wales 14 – 0 Italy (Aaron Wainwright)
26 minutes. The residence facet take the choice of a 5m lineout by way of Edwards’s boot. Lake throws a low lineout to Carter for the maul to assemble and hammer ahead rapidly over the road for Wainwright to seize his second of the match!
Edwards converts
24 minutes. Wales win a scrum penalty and ship it to the touch close to the Italy 22. Hawkins has a run from the lineout however is rattled to a halt and pushed backwards, which appears to have influence for Italy earlier than Zuliani handles the ball within the ruck in his eagerness to rub Hawkins nostril in it.
22 minutes. The recreation spends a couple of minutes within the center third with either side in possession for a bit. Garbisi decides he’s had sufficient of this and sends a kick excessive for Lynagh to chase, which he reaches first however drops ahead.
19 minutes. Clean win from the Italian lineout is sort of maximised when Fusco dummies and races in direction of the road. He pumps his legs however doesn’t have sufficient to interrupt the Welsh tacklers and because the ball strikes left the passing is imprecise, sends the ball to the grass and Mee toe-punts it away.
17 minutes. That strive has Wales’s tails up barely as their runners have elevated their depth somewhat in a couple of phases from the restart. However, this involves a halt when Brex reads a go behind the road and sprints onto Mann, isolates him, and wins a penalty when the back-rower holds onto the ball.
TRY! Wales 7 – 0 Italy (Aaron Wainwright)
15 minutes. An honest lineout lastly for Wales, this time on the Italy 22. Mee is outstanding once more as he takes a keep it up the arc from his wing into the center of the Italian defence earlier than the ball is recycled to Wainwright on a superb line from deep to drive over.
Edwards converts
13 minutes. Mee calmly finds Rees-Zammit with a go within the 22 for the fullback to cream a large kick that places Fusco beneath strain. Mee follows up after which wins a penalty for Fusco not releasing the ball within the sort out. An glorious couple of minutes for the younger winger.
MISSED PENALTY! Wales 0 – 0 Italy (Paolo Garbisi)
12 minutes. The Welsh lineout is sort of a drunk monkey conference on the minute, and the newest one is misplaced by way of one other knock-on that Mann then pounces on from an offside place.
Garbisi tees it up however strikes it horrifically.
10 minutes. The ball runs unfastened from a pink hand and it falls to the worst particular person attainable from a Wales perspective: Menoncello. He races sixty metres up the left facet of the pitch and flings a go to Ioane earlier than the scrambling defence does sufficient to haul him down. Italy spay it to the suitable, however the breakdown is frenetic and offers possession again to Wales by way of a penalty.
8 minutes. Wales run to to the suitable from a scrum in teh center of the sphere. Edward strikes in direction of the road, however it’s very lateral and he takes the choice to chip excessive that’s too deep and Garbisi simply marks it within the 22. A waste of an attacking place.
6 minutes. The first lineout for Wales is overthrown to Mann on the tail and misplaced ahead to Italian palms. The guests do nothing with it aside from kick to the touch to offer Wales one other go round midway, which they kick excessive from and take by Lynagh is ruined by Fischetti spilling the ball on the following section.
4 minutes. Some phases from Wales within the Italian half are constructing some momentum, however the Azzuri defence could be very cute in not placing many within the ruck, as a substitute marshalling themselves throughout the sphere to include the runners. Eventually, James is held up within the sort out and when the ball deosn’t emerge Italy have a properly gained scrum.
2 minutes. Ruzza juggles with the primary lineout after Wales clear the kick off, however the Italian forwards do sufficient to retain possession. At least till two phases later when it’s nicked on the ruck for Edwards to clear.
Kick Off!
Garbisi boots us underway
Officials immediately:
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (England), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
“Watching from Minneapolis and refusing to let hope anywhere near me.” writes El Rose. She could possibly be commenting on Wales’s probabilities or the present US political panorama.
The roof is closed, the lights are down, and the fireworks are popping because the groups emerge from the tunnel. Kick off quickly.
“Currently on a plane heading to Mexico.” Stephen Halliday informs us. “Have just finished following along the Ireland – Scotland match and am knackered! Hoping for more of the same from this game!!”
“I’m following your commentary from Canada.” says Roger Moore, “Went to the stadium in Cardiff with my dad and my grandad. I still think of it as the Cardiff Arms Park. Many memories of the good old golden days. Hoping for another good day today. Cymru am Byth!”
Pre-match studying
Get in contact with me previous to and all through the match on the email. It’s prone to be an eventful day as Super Saturday unfolds, so preserve me up to date in your throughts.
Teams
Wales
Louis Rees‑Zammit; Ellis Mee, Eddie James, Joe Hawkins, Josh Adams; Dan Edwards, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carré, Dewi Lake (c), Tomas Francis; Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter; Alex Mann, James Botham, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Archie Griffin, Adam Beard, Ollie Cracknell, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans, Blair Murray.
Italy
Lorenzo Pani; Louis Lynagh, Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Fusco; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Muhamed Hasa; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Michele Lamaro (c), Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosuè Zilocchi, Riccardo Favretto, Davide Odiase, Stephen Varney, Leonardo Marin, Tommaso Allan
Preamble
There’s a well-known Italian phrase La Dolce Vita, which I imagine interprets on to “we beat England, have some of that!”. This is the vitality Gonzalo Quesada’s males convey to Cardiff immediately as they search their first ever three-win Six Nations match. Their closing place within the desk is to be decided by outcomes elsewhere immediately, however as a manner marker for his or her improvement that is of lesser import than the quantity within the W column.
Wales even have their very own language after all, and whether or not they converse it or not all followers of Cymru could have the sensation of digon nawr – “enough now”. Enough of governance and administrative clustershambles, sufficient non sell-out matches, sufficient rationalisation of poor performances, sufficient dropping. For all Italy’s tangible enchancment, this was at all times the match that offered the house facet with one of the best probability of avoiding the picket spoon and they are going to be pouring the whole lot into this.
Will or not it’s sufficient? The kind suggests not and added to this the Azzuri have their very own motivation to encourage them. Can Wales summon their latest vastly improved outings and add the additional required to beat this? All might be revealed within the subsequent few hours.
