Another week, another Welsh defeat, another 80 minutes in which those in red gave their best as individuals but proved that it is nowhere near good enough for this level. A 14th straight defeat has dropped them to 12th on World Rugby’s rankings, one place below Georgia and the lowest position in their history. In Roman rain, Warren Gatland’s Divine Comedy descended another circle.
Perhaps the most damning point of all is that this never felt like a contest. The losing bonus point, procured at the death with a penalty try after two Italians received yellow cards, felt undeserving and failed to gloss over the preceding dross. Even with so much riding on this result, and even with the weather stifling Italy’s attacking threat, Wales simply failed to manufacture a challenge. Forget about a Plan B, Gatland’s team now appear bereft of any plan at all beyond aimless kicks, toothless carries and unjustified hope.
They almost began with a dream start when, two minutes after the opening whistle, Tomos Williams raked a diagonal kick to the corner, where Josh Adams burst on to the bouncing greasy ball, only to spill it around his ankles a metre short of the line. The Wales scrum – bullied for most of the game – then coughed up a penalty and three minutes later Freddie Thomas lost his feet at a ruck, handing Tommaso Allan a shot at goal for an early 3-0 lead.
Conditions forced the hands of both scrum-halves, who launched high balls into the back field at every opportunity. In theory this should have helped Wales find their feet. One-up runners could merely charge into walls or chase after contestable kicks. A curling Ben Thomas penalty drew them level on 17 minutes.
But Italy had an extra gear and found a way out of the slugfest. Another dominant scrum gave Paolo Garbisi front-foot ball which the fly-half used to dart down the blindside before nudging a grubber for Ange Capuozzo. The flying winger who stunned Cardiff to set up a late winner in 2022 dotted down in style. Allan added the extras from the touchline and made it three from three when he nailed a penalty before the half-hour mark.
For the second week in a row, Wales were ineffective at the point of contact. Taulupe Faletau, playing his first Test since the 2023 World Cup, added some heft, but the 34-year-old could not do it alone. Italy’s ascendancy was rewarded with a string of penalties that kept them camped in Welsh territory. When Evan Lloyd lost his feet in his own 22, Allan opened up the 13-point lead they would take into the break.
Wales continued to shoot themselves in the foot, by either failing to execute the basics or choosing the wrong option. When they had a rare opportunity to strike from a five-metre lineout in the first half, they attempted an intricate move round the blindside which the Italians read like a book.
Wales changed their entire front row at once. It didn’t help – Italy won a scrum penalty that Allan generously drifted wide of the poles. The struggling Ben Thomas – who plays in midfield for Cardiff – was replaced by Dan Edwards at fly-half. It didn’t help – the Wales backline was just as disjointed as it had been in the first half, as they seemed incapable of stringing together more than three phases.
It was all so predictable, which is not inherently a bad thing. After all, most teams know what France and South Africa will do. It’s that Wales’s predictability is now coupled with rank ineptitude. Adams was sent to the sin-bin on the hour when he clattered Martin Page-Relo with a head-on-head challenge. Allan, after missing two kicks off the tee, then dinked an extra three points as Wales’s discipline unravelled.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
There was the glimmer of a comeback when the replacement Aaron Wainwright powered over from the back of a rolling maul with 10 minutes to play.
Edwards struck the upright from the conversion, which left Wales needing two tries to avoid a first ever defeat at the Stadio Olimpico. They also needed to keep Italy scoreless, which they failed to do when Faletau was guilty of infringing at the back of the maul, illegally disrupting the scrum-half under rugby’s new laws. Allan’s fifth penalty put the game to bed.
Wales spent the rest of the game in Italy’s red zone and sustained pressure led to the prop Marco Riccioni and the lock Dino Lamb being shown yellow cards. A penalty try shortened the deficit to just seven. Better teams might have manufactured a snatch-and-grab draw with the two-man advantage. The best this Wales team can hope for at this stage is a sorry bonus-point defeat.
