Six Nations Review - Italy 9 - 26 Wales

Revivals aren’t always pretty.  They don’t have to be miraculous, joy-laden scenes accompanied by a flock of soaring doves and a Norah Jones backing track; sometimes, a rain soaked, mud infused brawl will do just fine as long as the result is right.  And Wales certainly won’t be complaining after a solid win against a stubborn and yet limited Italy side in Rome on Saturday, which solidified their recovery from an abysmal run of results and kept alive their hopes of retaining their Six Nations crown.

Following an outstanding opening victory against France, the Azzurri had slumped to a disappointing defeat in Scotland – but the optimism of another home victory was there, despite the fact that inspirational captain Sergio Parisse was suspended for gobbing off at a referee in the Top 14.  Wales on the other hand had won their first game in 9 in Paris in the previous round, but they were going for their 4^th consecutive away in the Six Nations – something they hadn’t achieved since 1979.  So perhaps it is fair to say that both set of supporters may have been harbouring some optimism going into kick off, maybe even secretly hoping for a decent game following Italy’s recent desire to play at a high tempo and due to the incredible talent in the Welsh backline.

But as the rain came down, so did the expectations.  The first half was littered with mistakes in torrential conditions, dominated by the forwards in an attritional battle which was defined by the scrum, where both sides picked up 6 points apiece from penalties.  Wales seemed to have the shove on in the front row – an area where Italy would have hoped to establish some dominance – but they had occasional problems on the engagement which meant captain Martin Castrogiovanni and co managed to keep the scrum penalty count relatively even.  However, Gethin Jenkins was looking in good form outside of the set piece as well, forcing several turnovers which shut down what little momentum the Italians could muster, which unfortunately for the Italians was limited to odd yardage around the fringes, with the rest of their play being far too slow and lateral. 

It was a first half with little to no attacking vibrancy, as was dictated by the conditions, but the experience was made all the worse for the TV viewer as the BBC’s usually acceptable commentator Andrew Cotter was taken ill shortly after kick off.  This meant direct commentary was taken over by the perennially miserable Jonathan Davies, who was soon accompanied by legendary wing Shane Williams, who unfortunately has the dullest voice I’ve ever heard – ironic considering the vibrancy of his game when he was a player.  With them at the helm, the BBC successfully created the most irritating commentary duo in the history of sport, with about as much impartiality as Brian Moore on St George’s Day.  And it’s not like either of them have the deep, dulcet tones of Eddie Butler to caress your audio senses – it felt like your ear was being rogered by a high pitched pneumatic drill which started every surge of pain with a dejected “And Again...” (listen to Davies’ commentary – repetitive is probably the kindest description).  So, with a dire and yet physical first half made worse by the despondent duo, Wales went into the half time break with a 9 – 6 lead, a dominant scrum and a pair of centres who hadn’t touched the ball.  The highlight of the first half was probably a superb tap tackle by centre Gonzalo Canale on Alex Cuthbert, just when the winger seemed to have found a rare patch of open space.

The second half brought some pleasant relief – experienced (and pleasant sounding) commentator Huw Llewelyn Davies, who had been commentating for another channel in Welsh, stepped in to take over the main commentary duties, whilst the affairs on-pitch took a dramatic turn.  Firstly, in the opening minutes, fly half Kris Burton kicked through for centre Tomasso Benvenuti to chase, but the Italian appeared to be held back by Dan Biggar in the race for the line, although the referee didn’t see anything wrong on what was, to be fair, a tight call.  The Welsh luck then held out when, a couple of minutes later, an innocuous looking kick by Mike Phillips took a wicked bounce which led to Burton and scrum half Edoardo Gori running into each other, whilst centre Jonathan Davies grabbed the opportunity, picking up and strolling over for the first try of the game.  Leigh Halfpenny’s kick added to his tally from his 3 first half kicks, before Burton had to his 2 previous efforts with another penalty, this time conceded by prop Paul James (on for the excellent Gethin Jenkins).

Halfpenny restored the 10 point lead with a monster kick, and Welsh fortunes further improved when Roman Poite sent Martin Castrogiovanni to the sin bin for repeated scrum infringements.  The captain protested but, in his absence, the Welsh took immediate advantage with Cuthbert scything into the corner on a great line off a set move.  In credit to the Azzurri, with just under 20 minutes to go, and 26 – 9 down after Halfpenny’s magnificent conversion, they could have crumbled, but instead the held firm and the match just drifted towards the 80 minute mark with no further points.  Perhaps a chance to build a good points difference missed by the Welsh?  They couldn’t care less.  The revival is right back on track.

Italy Player Ratings

Masi – 7 – Always looks dangerous on the ball.  Hard running and, once again, the pick of the Italian backs.
Venditti – 6 – Not a day to be a winger.  Well, not an Italian one.  No chance to see his pace or power.
Benvenuti – 6 – Conditions didn’t suit the talented centre and he saw precious little of the ball to showcase his abilities.
Canale – 5 – Like his partner, saw little of the ball and also was caught out defensively for Cuthbert’s try.
McLean – 6 – Again, was almost invisible, aside from a couple of solid high ball takes.
Burton – 4 – Not his day.  Kicked off the tee well enough, but struggled to generate any go forward, missed a couple of drop goals and made a mess of sweeping up for Davies’ try.
Gori – 6 – Solid delivery in awful conditions, but was part of the mix up for the first Welsh score.
Lo Cicero – 4 – A day to forget for the 101 cap veteran.  Took a pasting in the scrum and wasn’t visible elsewhere.
Ghiraldini – 5 – Seemed to struggle after an injury in the opening play and wasn’t as lively in the loose as usual.
Castrogiovanni – 5 – Struggled against Jenkins in the scrum in the first half but carried well and tried to keep his team motivated.  He may have been unlucky with the sin-binning but it was still costly for his team.
Pavanello – 6 – Decent showing for the second row who helped disrupt the Welsh lineout early doors.
Minto – 7 – Good showing about the park from the lock, getting his hands on the ball as much as possible.
Zanni – 7 – Strong work by the flanker around the fringes led to some rare metres being made.
Favaro – 6 – Nowhere near as impressive as in weeks gone by.  Couldn’t time his hits as well today or force turnovers, but got about the park effectively and helped disrupt Welsh possession.
Vosawai – 7 – Always looked dangerous on the charge.  Parisse’s boots can’t be filled, but he made a decent fist of it, although questions must be asked on his handling.
 
Subs Used:

De Marchi – 5 – The Italian luck in the scrum did not improve but put himself about defensively.

Giazzon – 6 – A couple of strong carries from the hooker late on caught the eye
Cittadini – No time to make an impact
Geldenhuys – 6 – Not quite as effective as Minto on the carry, but he looked for work enthusiastically
Derbyshire – No time to make an impact.
Garcia – No time to make an impact
Botes – No time to make an impact

 

Wales Player Ratings:

Halfpenny – 7 – Another rock solid performance from the full back.  I personally have him down as the most reliable kicker in the northern hemisphere now as well – and in awful conditions he was fantastic
Cuthbert – 7 – A well taken try, which is all you can ask for from a wing in these conditions
Davies – 7 – Didn’t touch the ball in the first half, but snaffled up a slippy loose ball well for his score. Roberts – 5 – Another anonymous game from the big man.  In bad conditions he should be a go-to man, but it’s hard to recall any significant impact apart from when he dropped the ball.
North – 6 – Again, was quiet but showed up well under the high ball.
Biggar – 6 – Not a day for flair, and kicked reasonably given the conditions.  Very well timed pass for Cuthbert’s try.
Phillips – 6 – Another decent performance from the 9.  It was his kick into the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ which created the first score.
Jenkins – 8 – Had Castrogiovanni on toast thanks to some lenient reffing on the boring-in rule, but took full advantage and was awesome in the breakdown, forcing 2 turnovers.  Shame he went off early due to injury.
Hibbard – 5 – Lineout was average and where is the bullocking runs we’ve seen for the Ospreys.  Unconvincing.
A Jones – 6 – Showed up very well in the scrum but where is the contribution in the loose?  Doesn’t get about the park like he used to.
Coombs – 6 – A quieter day for the new man, unable to get his hands on the ball as much as he would have liked.
Evans – 7 – Some strong grunt work from the big lock, carrying well down the central channels and smashing the breakdown as well.
R. Jones – 8 – Led by example on a day which required leaders.  Got his hands on the ball, made yards and made tackles.  A real workhorse and a strong showing.  Man of the Match.
Tipuric – 6 – Fell off a couple of tackles early on but his defensive work rate early on was otherwise excellent.
Faletau – 6 – Not the most conspicuous day for the big number 8 but went about his defensive duties effectively.

Subs used:

James – 7 – Continued the scrimmaging dominance, even he misses Jenkins’ X factor in the loose

Owens – 7 – Carried like Hibbard should have done, aggressively and into the heart of the defence.  Impressive.
Mitchell – No time to make an impact
A W Jones – 7 – Great to see the second row back.  Got stuck in and helped guide the team home.
Warburton – No time to make an impact
S Williams – No time to make an impact
Hook – No time to make an impact
L. Williams – 6 – Snappy service considering the conditions but couldn’t engineer a third score