In the end a comfortable enough victory for Wales. The change of props was key as they began to get on top at the set piece then. They rattled Parisse and he conceded a few knocks ons and a couple of penalties too. You also have to put the three tries down to the introduction of Sam Davies; Biggar’s passivity played into the Italian defence’s hands but not so with his Ospreys rival. I’d expect the younger man to start against England next week.
That’s the first round of the 2017 Six Nations done and it’s been a decent one. That’s all from me too. Cheers for reading, I’m off to put my hands in a bowl of ice. Bye!
Full-time: Italy 7-33 Wales
Wales are looking for the bonus point and Liam Williams places a stunning little grubber inside with the outside of his boot for Gareth Davies to chase. He kicks it on, almost a carbon copy of his try against England in the World Cup. McLean secures it and Italy keep it in hand, only to concede yet another turnover. Liam Williams gets it out wide and, off balance, scrambles and twists for the line. We go to the TMO and ... he’s let it slip out of his hands at the last moment! And that’s it!
Converted try! (North 78 + Halfpenny con) Italy 7-33 Wales
Sam Davies steps inside a broken Italian defensive line on his own 22 and passes right to North in space. He goes off down the touchline at pace, looking for all the world like someone whose hamstring is about to snap. He cuts inside the last man McLean and goes under the posts.
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77 min Poor decision making costs Italy a try. Campagnaro makes a lovely break in between the two Welsh flankers and gives it right after making a good 30 metres. It goes out wide to Bisegni on the right, but he kicks it dead from the 22.
76 min Sam Davies grubbers it ahead for North to chase and it looks like the Northampton man might have overstretched himself vainly chasing it. He’s fine to continue but hobbling. From the lineout, Italy go inside then back left, only to turn it over and Sam Davies clears.
74 min So we restart with an Italy scrum on their own 10-metre line. They go right and Bisegni makes a lovely little run down the right, streaming inside Liam Williams and making ground. Wales win the turnover though and send it right.
Canna is on for Padovani, who was presumably the injured man.
There’s an Italian player down by the looks of things. Again, can’t see who. JP Doyle stops the match, and Wales make a couple of changes. Webb and Moriarty off, Gareth Davies and King on.
73 min Stolen by Wales and cleared long to Padovani, who is immediately smothered by Webb. They go left and Venditti kicks ahead but Halfpenny collects it and returns.
72 min It comes inside and Scott Baldwin, who appears to be on, stops his opposite number Ghiraldini coming through. It’s unplayable, Italy were going forward so they get the scrum. Tomasso Allan on for Canna.
71 min Another penalty to Italy, side-entry to the maul by Tipuric. That’s also the sin-bin period over, but 14 points and the game conceded in it by Italy. Canna takes the throw in the middle.
70 min Canna changes it up and goes short with the restart, and they immediately get a penalty for [Wales player] not releasing the tackled man. Canna nudges it into touch inside the 22 and Furno takes the throw at the front.
Conversion (Halfpenny 69) Italy 7-26 Wales
Drilled over from the touchline.
Try! (L Williams 68) Italy 7-24 Wales
Tipuric takes it at the front and Wales form the maul six metres out. It goes nowhere so back inside and the forwards suck the defenders into the breakdown. Left it goes and Scott Williams delays his pass to fix the defence and create an overlap; Davies slips it wide for Liam Williams to dot down in the corner.
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66 min Liam Williams puts it up high and chases his own kick, and it looks to me as though he was taken out. The TMO checks it off-camera and says it’s fine, but then Parisse is penalised for backchat. Sam Davies kicks it to touch.
65 min Canna sticks it into touch on the 22 as his half-back partner Gori is replaced by Bronzini. Wales nick the subsequent lineout and send it left to Halfpenny, who kicks it long into space and forces Venditti to come across.
64 min In the meantime, there has been some kicking back and forth and now Italy are probing away at the halfway line. They get a penalty when Tipuric goes slightly high on Canna.
63 min Hill replaces Ball for Wales, Minto comes on for Italy; not sure who went off.
“Acoustic Big Love is insanely hard to play on guitar. AND he sings at the same time. You don’t have to be a fan of The Mac to recognise he is a genius. I’ve been driving across the country all day, and only just turned the game on. Rather glad I missed the first half.” That from Matt Dony, the Welshman who only emailed the moment Wales took a comfortable lead.
Conversion (Halfpenny 62) Italy 7-19 Wales
From out wide on the right, Halfpenny gets the extras.
Try! (J Davies 61) Italy 7-17 Wales
Again Wales go for the scrum and this time it’s steady. Webb darts round the blindside and pops it to Liam Willaism, who is stopped short. They switch it to the right and Venditti comes flying out the line, leaving a massive overlap. Scott Williams sends it on to Jonathan Davies, who goes over unchallenged. That could be the game.
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Panico comes on for the scrum.
60 min The penalty count is 14-2 in favour of Wales, although they’re at 2-2 in the scrum. Wales get another penalty and there’s going to be a card here. Lovotti is sent to the sin-bin.
Still 58 min Ghiraldini is penalised for collapsing the scrum. The newly confident Welsh pack wants, and gets, another scrum. Ceccarelli on for Cittadini.
Wales opt for the scrum five metres out, down in the left-hand corner.
58 min This time Wales run it back from the restart, Halfpenny coming into the line to take the pass and make ground up the right. Then Webb breaks and Wales are rampant! Lovely offloading, outside to Scott Williams, back inside to Tipuric and then on to Jones. They go again, Jonathan Davies to North and they break down a metre out. Back inside and Webb snipes. He’s tackled and reaches for the line; Fuser gets a hand under it though and Webb can only ground it just short. We’re going back though for a penalty against M’Banda for offside.
Bad news for Italy though as Parisse is down, his head having bumped into the hip of one of his own players. He’s continuing though.
Penalty (Halfpenny 57) Italy 7-12 Wales
It’s wide on the right, midway inside the Italy half. Halfpenny’s radar is working just nicely though.
55 min Someone is unhappy with JP Doyle. “Fuckin’ hell ref,” says Webb, allowing me to publish a swear word in the Guardian. Parisse is incorrectly pinged for offside at a ruck and Halfpenny will have another shot.
54 min Italy changes as Furno and Campagnaro come on. Benvenutti is off, Biagi too I think. Back with the play and from the restart Jonathan Davies sends a massive long kick down the middle and Padovani, under no pressure, spills it in the middle of his own half.
Penalty (Halfpenny 53) Italy 7-9 Wales
From just to the left and a decent way out, Halfpenny strokes his team in front.
52 min We’re going back to the TMO to check on a tackle by Steyn on Moriarty. It’s a lift and a drive back into the ground, but he controlled it and went to ground with his man. It’s a penalty to Wales, which I reckon is harsh. Halfpenny to go from 42 metres for the lead.
51 min It’s very scrappy but Jonathan Davies sweeps up the loose ball as it comes squirting out the back of the scrum.
50 min High from Halfpenny and Parisse can’t hold on. Scrum Wales, five inside the Italy half. Wales are going to make a couple of changes: both props off, Evans and Francis on.
49 min Wales were lucky to get that penalty, which is punted down the left to touch with little angle to work with. From the breakdown at the lineout, Webb goes high and Parisse secures it. Canna clears.
48 min The result of that is a Wales scrum a metre outside their 22, near the touchline. It’s a powerful effort from Italy but they go too early and concede a penalty.
“Alun-Wyn Jones has got to be Lions captain hasn’t he?” asks Craig Trainor. “The leadership he’s shown in this second half so far has been magnificent.” I can’t imagine he won’t be.
47 min And that’s it for Gega, who is replaced by the experienced Ghiraldini. From the restart, it’s cleared to Bisegni, who puts it up high and Parisse is just unable to reclaim it, running off the pitch and coming back in to jump against Sam Davies but he can’t hold on.
Penalty (Halfpenny 46) Italy 7-6 Wales
Back to within a point then.
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46 min Again Liam Williams comes into midfield and carries to within 15. Alun Wyn Jones drives on and Gega is penalised for not rolling away. Penalty right in front.
45 min Jake Ball is bleeding from near the eye and looks like Carrie White.
Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/REDBANK
44 min The maul is formed and Liam Williams cuts in off his wing to take it. Wales are unable to get any fluency to their passing though with the Italian rush defence looking strong. They win the turnover and, after a number of probes, Padovani slices his clearance into touch inside his 22.
Incidentally I credited some analysis to David Flatman earlier, but it’s Ben Kay.
43 min Gori box kicks clear to touch down the right, halfway inside his own half.
42 min Kicked to Halfpenny who goes high, then Parisse is unable to collect. Jonathan Davies, who cannot pass, kicks into the 22 and Padovani fields.
41 min Davies, on for Biggar kicks off. Italy clear and Wales come back with Owens taking it over the 10 metre line, but he’s turned over very well by Lovotti and McLean kicks into the 22. Halfpenny’s return is half-charged down so Owens is allowed to play it on halfway, then Davies kicks to Padovani in the 22.
Sam Davies is indeed on at half-time.
“What sort of weird alternative-facts universe are we living in,” asks Robin Hazlehurst, “with Scotland and Italy top of the table as it stands and playing the most attractive attacking rugby, and Wales and Ireland on the bottom. Seems the championship decider will be on the final weekend after all, but in Edinburgh, not Dublin!”
Brendan Venter’s fingerprints were all over that Italian performance. The backline have been up in Wales’s faces so, so quickly and the midfield has been forced to kick nearly every time they’ve had possession. I reckon Sam Davies will be on at half-time.
Half-time: Italy 7-3 Wales
40 min Through the phases but then Warburton gets over it, forces McLean to hold on on the ground and it’s a penalty to Wales. Off the field it goes and that’s half-time. It looked as though Sam Davies was about to come on there.
39 min Now they go wide right to Bisegni, who pops it back inside as he’s tackled. It’s intercepted but Williams is dragged into touch. Italy take it quickly and sling it across the line with Wales slightly off-guard. They’re up to within 10 now, but Wales’ defence is so quick to reset.
38 min Italy are into the 22 now but Tipuric drives Gori a long way back. Smith goes for the turnover and wins it, but then loses it again. Wales slowing it down very well now.
37 min Canna restarts long to Jonathan Davies, who kicks back. Parisse then launches it high, chases and collects his own kick just outside the 22. I wish I was Sergio Parisse. Italy go left along the 22 and look for gaps.
Penalty (Halfpenny 36) Italy 7-3 Wales
With a rather massive scar under his right eye, Halfpenny steps up from about 30 metres, off to the right, and he thuds it through.
Updated
... for an HIA.
It’s Fuser, who is now standing up. He’ll still be replaced by Josh Furno.
There are a couple of players down. For Wales it’s Biggar but he looks OK. The cart is on for an Italian whose face and number are both obscured from my view.
35 min Penalty Wales for tackler not rolling away. JP Doyle tells Rhys Webb that if he appeals for a decision again then he’ll penalise him. That’s funny, because no one likes scrum halfs.
34 min Scott Williams is scythed down but his body position is good and Wales can send quick ball out to the left. Italy slow it down around their 22. As Flats notes on the telly, Italy are putting just one man into every breakdown.
33 min It’s not technically great but Parisse still comes off the back of it and Padovani clears long to Biggar. Wales run back through North, then Fuser takes out Webb before the No9 had his hands on the ball. Penalty, which Biggar kicks to touch near the Italy 22.
32 min In fact North was dragged into touch before he spilled it forwards, so it’ll be an Italy lineout.
31 min From the restart, Gori passes back to Jon Snow* lookalike McLean, who whacks it down the left and into touch. Wales lineout 13 metres inside the Italy half and Jon Davies crashes it up the middle. They go left, then right and North knocks on in the tackle.
*The Game of Thrones one.
Conversion (Canna 30) Italy 7-0 Wales
That was easy.
Try! (Gori 29) Italy 5-0 Wales
Parisse takes it off the base and pops it sublimely inside to Steyn, who is stopped a couple of metres short by Ball. Back inside and Wales hold it up, forming the maul. That’s a mistake as Italy are far, far too powerful and from a couple of metres they send the Welsh reeling back under their own posts! Gori at the bottom of it.
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He does.
27 min Wales are twisted this way and that and are penalised for not driving straight. If I was Parisse I’d go for another scrum here.
You're putting in a shift this weekend @DanLucas86. Wales should win this, but then we said the same for Ireland. O'Shea needs a fiery debut
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) February 5, 2017
25 min Italy shove Wales off their own ball and here goes Parisse! He takes a line right to left and exchanges offloads with Canna. Wales can’t cope with the No8 and he goes straight through them, up to the line. Cittadini has a go but is held up. Italy have a five-metre scrum. What a player Parisse is.
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24 min It’s a Wales scrum just outside their 22 and about 10 metres in from the left. I tell you this because I have plenty of time while they reset said scrum.
23 min North kicks and this time Padovani runs it back, cutting a swath down the left and finding Parisse, who barrels into the 22. Right they go and Wales’s defensive line is intact. Gori knocks it on midfield.
22 min Kick tennis for a full 51 seconds, before North calls a mark five metres in from touch. That wasn’t the most memorable minute.
21 min The scrum is as steady as you’ll see so Italy go into midfield. Back to the fly-half who puts up another high one for Liam Williams in his own 22. This time he does – just – claim it and calls the mark.
20 min We have a TMO referral when the ball comes off Jonathan Davies’s knee. He kicks it in goal and dives for the ball, but Lovotti just managed to fall on it first. Canna kicks the drop-out long and Liam Williams spills it on halfway with Bisegni bearing down.
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19 min Webb tries to go himself after the maul is stalled. He’s brought down five metres out but Smith drives through for a couple more. Siox, seven, eight phases and they crab right.
18 min That’s brilliant defence from Italy, sending the maul back five metres. Down it goes and Wales haven’t used it, but Doyle says that it had been pulled down by someone. Another penalty and another kick to the bottom-left corner.
17 min Owens throws and Warburton takes. Another penalty as Biagi took out the jumper. Back to the corner.
AWJ is back on.
16 min Benvenutti comes flying into the ruck and takes Webb out without the ball. Penalty Wales and Biggar pops it into the corner.
15 min The lineout is nicked but Wales can’t gather cleanly and it’s flung behind the backline. Webb snipes and Smith carries though and that takes them into the Italian 22. Sticking with the forwards for now.
14 min Biggar chips across from right to left and again it’s perfectly weighted. Liam Williams gathers it perfectly and tries to go outside Canna, who drags him into touch near the 22.
13 min Tipuric takes it at the front and goes to ground but it’s slow ball, so Wales keep it in the tight. Biggar kicks in behind Bisegi for Liam Williams to chase, but the full-back Padovani gets on to it in double quick time. Once again, Italy clear comfortably to the 10 metre line.
11 min Oh, it appears there was a Welsh hand there as Italy have the scrum. It’s solid, back to Padovani on the right and he launches it to touch down the right. Textbook exit, that.
10 min 38 metres out Wales just about win the lineout, Ball taking it under pressure from Parisse. Italy’s line speed is very, very quick, hence all the kicks over the top so far. This time they keep it in hand though and Tipuric crabs a few metres forwards. But Fuser strips him and Italy go left with Parisse acting the playmaker. It’s knocked on in midfield though.
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9 min For the first time, Italy are under a bit of pressure. It’s short to Biagi and he drops it, but backwards and McLean is able to hoof it clear well.
8 min And that’s more like it from the Welsh forwards as Cittadini collapses the scrum and concedes a penalty. Biggar puts it to touch on the right a few metres inside Italy’s half. From that they go wide left and Halfpenny, up into the line, tries to make some ground. Back right and Tipuric gets over the gainline, then Biggar grubbers to touch inside the 22.
7 min It comes to nothing though as Fuser is driven back well and Gori fumbles it at the back of the ruck. Scrum Wales, around 25 metres from their own line.
6 min Lineout to Italy on the 22 and Parisse takes. The forwards pick and go at the Welsh tacklers, keeping it tight.
5 min North took a slight knock there as Venditti caught him in the thigh with his knee as they contested the ball. Absolutely no intent and North should be just fine I imagine. First scrum, nine metres inside the Italian half and wide on the Welsh right. It’s an excellent scrum from the home side, unsurprisingly, and the Nicky Smith goes to ground. Penalty Italy and Canna kicks to touch down the left.
Cap’n Jones is off for a blood replacement, the Dragons’ Cory Hill on for a Six Nations debut.
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3 min From just beyond the 10 metre line but off to the right, Halfpenny removes his scrum cap, steps up and, oddly, fires a long way wide to the right. Canna’s drop out is long and taken by Liam Williams, who is well scragged. Back to Biggar and he goes for the cross-kick but North spills it. Lovely kick though.
2 min High from Biggar and Wales get the penalty as Canna obstructs the chaser. Halfpenny will go for goal from around 50 metres.
Kick-off!
At JP Doyle’s signal, Canna gets us away. Biggar clears but misses touch and Venditti carries it to the 10 metre line, but Wales quickly win the turnover. Left to Jonathan Davies and he steps up over the halfway line.
The players are out for the anthems. Meanwhile, Simon McMahon has emailed in: “Fleetwood Mac puns, Dan? You should know us better than that. Tusk, Tusk!” Honk.
Eddie Jones is basically Lindsey Buckingham.
@DanLucas86 Lindsey Buckingham nailed a universal truth in an interview - "Anyone who is any good at anything knows they could be better"
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) February 5, 2017
You’re all just going to send me Fleetwood Mac puns now, aren’t you?
@DanLucas86 question: why is it that people think Italy away is so "tricky" for Wales? 5 Lions on the team, 10 payer who have won 6 N
— Ugh. (@AnnoyedGamer) February 5, 2017
Well yes, but Alex Cuthbert is a Lion and has won the Six Nations and he doesn’t exactly improve teams. As mentioned below, Italy don’t tend to concede many in Six Nations openers. The team selection is conservative from Howley and there are a lot of out-of-form players. Wales are favourites but don’t take the win for granted against an improving Italy.
On the telly, the discussion is around concussion. One thing they do have in this championship – that I believe is not the case in the Premiership – is independent head injury assessors. This is really something that should happen at all games.
If you’ve got a spare 45 minutes, Nigel Owens was on Desert Island Discs today. By all accounts it’s very much worth a listen – I haven’t heard it yet but by the looks of things it’s a very emotional episode.
A bit more on Italy.
@DanLucas86 Yep, it's still not ideal but their average points conceded for R1 is 27, by R5 it leaps to 38.
— Accenture Rugby (@AccentureRugby) February 5, 2017
It’s raining now, so expect a lot of kicks from the Italian 9, 10, 12 axis to test out Wales’s back three.
Happy 40th birthday, by the way, to this stone cold classic album. And the greatest breakup song of all time.
I saw Fleetwood Mac a few years ago and was stunned by what a guitarist Lindsey Buckingham is.
Conor O’Shea talks. “We have a big responsibility to the future of Italian rugby.” He says that mentality is half the battle and he needs to get the side out of the mindset of losing games after losing games. “The important thing today is playing for 80 minutes. We need to be there after 80 minutes fighting.” He also says the presence of the Italian president shows the changing perception of rugby in the country. He’s a very impressive coach.
This is an outstanding stat and not one I had ever even considered, so unlikely does it sound.
@DanLucas86 Afternoon Dan, good point on a tricky start for Wales. Italy, on average, concede the least amount of points in Round 1.
— Accenture Rugby (@AccentureRugby) February 5, 2017
Preamble
Afternoon, folks. It is a mixture of the new and the old today. New coaches for a new Six Nations on both sides and, for Wales, a new captaincy era. Alun Wyn Jones leads the side as the permanent captain for the first time and a trip to Rome is arguably the trickiest start he could have asked for.
Wales should beat Italy. They are, as ever, expected to beat Italy. They have won the past 10 against their hosts today but Jones has tasted defeat in Rome before. Furthermore, this is a better Italian side than that which faded so badly in the 2016 championship. They come into this championship off the back of a startling win over South Africa in the autumn. And their new coach, Conor O’Shea, is not only the single nicest man in rugby but has assembled a very good a coaching team in Mike Catt and Brendan Venter. These three, along with Sergio Parisse, will at least have instilled in Italy the belief that they can win.
Jones and Howley will know that if they lose they will be under severe pressure for the rest of the championship, not least with the English coming to Cardiff next. Wales might have won three out of four of their autumn matches but few of their fans were particularly impressed. Knowing that they need to win, Howley has placed his trust in experienced players and resisted calls to bring in the youngsters. The selection of Dan Biggar over Sam Davies at fly-half is the biggest call and suggests that they are not going to approach this with wild abandon.
Biggar, George North and the deposed captain Sam Warburton have not been in the best of form for their respective clubs lately, so big performances are needed to repay their coach’s faith here. Wales not only need to win but win well.
As for Italy, they will be boosted by the return of the excellent Eduardo Gori at No9, although it is a risk breaking up what looked like a settled half-back partnership of Giorgio Bronzini and Carlo Canna. If they struggle early on we can expect the former to be introduced. There are also four changes to the pack that dismantled the Springboks’, and it will be interesting to see Maxime M’Banda making his debut at openside opposite Justin Tipuric.
Kick-off is at 2pm GMT, or 3pm Rome time. The teams look like this:
Italy
15-Edoardo Padovani; 14-Giulio Bisegni, 13-Tommaso Benvenuti, 12-Luke McLean 11-Giovanbattista Venditti; 10-Carlo Canna, 9-Edoardo Gori; 1-Andrea Lovotti, 2-Ornel Gega, 3-Lorenzo Cittadini, 4-Marco Fuser, 5-George Biagi, 6-Abraham Steyn, 7-Maxime Mata M’Banda, 8-Sergio Parisse (captain)
Replacements: 16-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17-Sami Panico, 18-Pietro Ceccarelli, 19-Joshua Furno, 20-Francesco Minto, 21-Giorgio Bronzini, 22-Tommaso Allan, 23-Michele Campagnaro
Wales
15-Leigh Halfpenny; 14-George North, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Scott Williams, 11-Liam Williams; 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Rhys Webb; 1-Nicky Smith, 2-Ken Owens, 3-Samson Lee, 4-Jake Ball, 5-Alun Wyn Jones (captain); 6-Sam Warburton, 7-Justin Tipuric, 8-Ross Moriarty
Replacements: 16-Scott Baldwin, 17-Rob Evans, 18-Tomas Francis, 19-Cory Hill, 20-James King, 21-Gareth Davies, 22-Sam Davies, 23-Jamie Roberts
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