Key events
13 mins. Mee calmly finds Rees-Zammit with a pass in the 22 for the fullback to cream a massive kick that puts Fusco under pressure. Mee follows up and then wins a penalty for Fusco not releasing the ball in the tackle. An excellent couple of minutes for the young winger.
MISSED PENALTY! Wales 0 – 0 Italy (Paolo Garbisi)
12 mins. The Welsh lineout is like a drunk monkey convention at the minute, and the latest one is lost via another knock-on that Mann then pounces on from an offside position.
Garbisi tees it up but strikes it horrifically.
10 mins. The ball runs loose from a red hand and it falls to the worst person possible from a Wales point of view: Menoncello. He races sixty metres up the left side of the pitch and flings a pass to Ioane before the scrambling defence does enough to haul him down. Italy spay it to the right, but the breakdown is frenetic and gives possession back to Wales via a penalty.
8 mins. Wales run to to the right from a scrum in teh middle of the field. Edward moves towards the line, but it’s very lateral and he takes the option to chip over the top that is too deep and Garbisi easily marks it in the 22. A waste of an attacking position.
6 mins. The first lineout for Wales is overthrown to Mann at the tail and lost forward to Italian hands. The visitors do nothing with it other than kick to touch to give Wales another go around halfway, which they kick high from and a good take by Lynagh is ruined by Fischetti spilling the ball on the next phase.
4 mins. Some phases from Wales in the Italian half are building some momentum, but the Azzuri defence is very cute in not putting many in the ruck, instead marshalling themselves across the field to contain the runners. Eventually, James is held up in the tackle and when the ball deosn’t emerge Italy have a well won scrum.
2 mins. Ruzza juggles with the first lineout after Wales clear the kick off, but the Italian forwards do enough to retain possession. At least until two phases later when it’s nicked at the ruck for Edwards to clear.
Kick Off!
Garbisi boots us underway
Officials today:
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 be commenting on Wales’s chances or the current US political landscape.
The roof is closed, the lights are down, and the fireworks are popping as the teams emerge from the tunnel. Kick off soon.
“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 reading
Get in touch with me prior to and throughout the match on the email. It’s likely to be an eventful day as Super Saturday unfolds, so keep me updated on 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 famous Italian phrase La Dolce Vita, which I believe translates directly to “we beat England, have some of that!”. This is the energy Gonzalo Quesada’s men bring to Cardiff today as they seek their first ever three-win Six Nations tournament. Their final position in the table is to be determined by results elsewhere today, but as a way marker for their development this is of lesser import than the number in the W column.
Wales also have their own language of course, and whether they speak it or not all fans of Cymru will have the feeling of digon nawr – “enough now”. Enough of governance and administrative clustershambles, enough non sell-out matches, enough rationalisation of poor performances, enough losing. For all Italy’s tangible improvement, this was always the match that presented the home side with the best chance of avoiding the wooden spoon and they will be pouring everything into this.
Will it be enough? The form suggests not and added to this the Azzuri have their own motivation to inspire them. Can Wales summon their recent vastly improved outings and add the extra required to overcome this? All will be revealed in the next few hours.
