And here’s the match report from our man, Daniel Gallan. Thanks for reading today.
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The numbers make terrible reading for any fan of Welsh rugby.
This is Gatland’s 20th loss in 26 Tests since returning for a second spell
Wales have have now lost eight six Nations games in a row
Defeat sees Wales slump to a new world ranking low of 12th. Georgia climb above them following their Rugby Europe Championship victory over the Netherlands in Tbilisi
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We’re around 30 minutes away from England’s game against France at Twickenham. Follow our coverage here. Lee’s a busy man today.
For Italy, that’s back-to-back Six Nations wins in Rome following their victory over Scotland last year. So credit to them even though the focus will inevitably be on Wales.
A 14th straight defeat for Wales is surely their lowest point. And Ireland are up next! Does Warren Gatland survive this Six Nations?
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A thoroughly deserved Italy win and a very poor Wales performance.
I’ll hand over to Dave Tindall for the reaction while I head to cover England vs France. Why not join me?
FULL TIME! ITALY CONSIGN WALES TO THEIR FOURTEENTH DEFEAT ON THE BOUNCE
80 mins. A huge blast on the whistle due to Wales sealing off the ruck ends the game. There’s a lot of Italian fists punching the air and some Welsh faces glowering like the grey sky.
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79 mins. Wales have the ball vs 13 men, but they are deep in their own territory and will have to go from here.
YELLOW CARD! Dino Lamb (Italy)
The second row replacement is off as well!
PENALTY TRY! Italy 22 - 15 Wales
78 mins. The exact same thing happens and Ref Carley has seen enough near the line to award a penalty try!
YELLOW CARD! Marco Riccioni (Italy)
The prop has paid the price for the entire team being a shambles defending mauls.
77 mins. Another maul is formed by the visitors and Italy infringe once more. It’s not ideal for Wales that they have only just discovered that this could have been a marked tactic to get on top of the home side.
75 mins. We enter the final minutes of the match with Wales on the ball near the Italy 22. They form a maul from the lineout and Italy are pinged for going to their knees defending it.
PENALTY! Italy 22 - 8 Wales (Tommaso Allan)
73 mins. Any hope of that try being a springboard for some late heroics from Wales is skewered by another piece of poor discipline for Allan to punish.
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TRY! Italy 19 - 8 Wales (Aaron Wainwright)
70 mins. All the previous action happened on a Wales advantage so they go for exactly the same play from the penalty. Front lineout ball, maul, Wainwright carry and this time the substitute is over the line to score.
Dan Edwards bounces the conversion back off the left post.
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DISALLOWED TRY! Italy 19 - 3 Wales (Freddie Thomas)
68 mins. A lineout for Wales in the Italian 22 after a scrum penalty. They go for the front jumper and set up the maul from which Wainwright has a carry from the back of and up to within a few metres of the try line. Freddie Thomas drives from the base of the ruck and his outstretched arm has the ball down for a try, but there’s a hint of double movement.
The TMO has a look and the ref agrees, no try! Josh Adams is back on.
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66 mins. The bunker have confirmed the Josh Adams remains on a yellow card, they considered it wasn’t a high degree of danger. He’ll return in two minutes.
65 mins. Ioane takes the ball high in the air from a Page-Relo kick in competition with Faletau in the Wales half. It’s recycled quickly but kicked away equally rapidly. Italy have clearly decided to make their opponents play from deep, which is sensible given they are very unlikely to.
62 mins. It’s easy to focus on how poor Wales have been as it’s like a burning beacon on your front lawn, but credit must go to Italy who have been tenacious and sensible in the conditions, with Paolo Garbisi having a great game.
61 mins. Wales are fully in “how long left, ref?” territory here. We’ve all played in those games; wet, freezing, losing and desperately wanting it to be over.
PENALTY! Italy 19 - 3 Wales (Tommaso Allan)
60 mins. Another penalty conceded by Wales and Allan gets his eye back in to slot three points.
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YELLOW CARD! Josh Adams (Wales)
59 mins. Another head contact,and this one looks less harsh as Adams chasing a kick is very upright as he hits Garbisi’s head with his shoulder. The winger is off for ten minutes while it’s on a red card review.
MISSED PENALTY! Italy 16 - 3 Wales (Martin Page-Relo)
58 mins. Tom Rogers is penalised for catching Garbisi around the chops in the tackle. It looked to me that Garbisi was falling and the winger’s arms were very low, so it could be a harsh call.
Not that my opinion matters, so Page-Relo takes it on from 50 metres. It soars towards the posts but bounces back off the crossbar! The three penalty misses would be costly if they were playing against a team that looked like scoring, ever.
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56 mins. Italy have their first period of phased possession of the half as they work runners around the Wales 10m line. There’s very little being gained for their efforts and Page-Relo decides it’s best to put a kick up, which Wales gather and Edwards clears.
MISSED PENALTY! Italy 16 - 3 Wales (Tommaso Allan)
54 mins. Faletau tries to neck-roll his team back into the game, such is his frustration. Unfortunately for him that’s very illegal, but more fortunately Allan misses to the right once more.
MISSED PENALTY! Italy 16 - 3 Wales (Tommaso Allan)
51 mins. Allan slides one just right of the posts.
48 mins. There’s a small victory for the Welsh forwards as Botham wins a jackal turnover is his own 22. That feels like the first bit of good news at the ruck all game.
Ben Thomas, who’s had a torrid time at 10 all game, is replaced by young Dan Edwards.
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46 mins. Blair Murray has a run into the Italy half and finds a bit of space, he draws Allan in and drives a kick for Adams to chase but Capuozzo is first to it to kill it in-goal.
44 mins. It is clear that Gatland’s talk at half-time mostly involved saying, “please kick the ball at all times” as that has been the gambit so far. There has been some good competition from the Welsh chasers, to be fair, but it doesn’t lead to any meaningful possession or territory
42 mins. Freddie Thomas nicks a lineout on halfway which gives early possession to Wales. They move into the Italy half but manage to lose the ball.
A huge boot from Garbisi rolls in-goal and the retreating red defenders kick clear.
“Wales remind me a lot of Scotland in 2009. Underpowered forwards and insipid backs is a horrible combination.” says Ben-Rus.
Second Half!
It’s the turn of Wales to receive the ball and are to be congratulated that they have managed to do that.
“The book ‘He’s just not that into you’ allowed people to stop worrying about every little aspect of dating and focus on the key fact of the situation.” ventures Joe Surtees on email. “In a similar way, the problems with this Welsh team can be boiled down to a single salient point, they just don’t have very good players.”
Not sure it’s that simple. It’s not a great crop of players, I agree, but they are not so poor in ability that they are unable to string more than two cohesive phases together – that is down to the coaching, and that will be changing soon. Gatland can’t survive this.
A bit like that book spawning one of the worst films ever made, that is the level of performance the Kiwi’s methods are producing.
So far, so comfortable for Italy who are putting in a furiously competent performance in the conditions. It’s nothing particularly impressive from the home team, but it is all that is required to get the upper hand over a very poor Wales offering.
Wales are utter dreck, basically.
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Half Time!
40 mins. A scrum penalty is awarded to Italy, who are on top there as well. Nothing comes of it and that’s the end of the half.
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39 mins. A flash of hope for Wales as Adams pulls some players in and offloads to Morgan on the right touchline in the Italy half. The captain opens his legs for a few metres and pops inside to Tomos Williams in a promising position, but there are groans as the ref’s whistle draws us to a halt. The offload to Morgan was forward.
37 mins. Wales win the ball and move it to the backs quickly. As has been the pattern all game (all year?) the first two phases are snappy enough with short carries and then it loses all shape and plan, including two players overrunning Ben Thomas who is left in no-mans land. They kick to the corner, it rolls out as Adams pursues it.
34 mins. There’s roughly an hour to go, and it feels like this game is already over. Wales are doing absolutely nothing when in possession and Italy keep scoring without having to do a great deal.
However, here is a chance as Wales have a lineout on the blue 22.
PENALTY! Italy 16 - 3 Wales (Tommaso Allan)
33 mins. Another penalty to Italy is put in the corner this time. Ruzza claims the lineout and after a short maul the ball is released into midfield where Brex has a carry, before a couple of phases later it’s another ruck infringement from Wales, this time captain Morgan a bit too keen with his hands.
Allan again adds points.
PENALTY! Italy 13 - 3 Wales (Tommaso Allan)
29 mins. Wales are slowly becoming as miserable as the day both in terms of play and mood. The latest awfulness is Rowlands off his feet at ruck and Allan, kicking like a dream, does the honours.
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27 mins. Italian play is not doing much so Garbisi calls for it and hammers a drop-goal attempt towards the posts. It’s bang in line but falls just short from forty metres. A cracking effort.
25 mins. Possesion around halfway for Wales is worked via a number of carries close to the ruck. This allows the Italian tacklers to fly up and disrupt easily, the latest tackled dislodging the ball from Freddie Thomas for a knock-on.
Nick Tompkins is returning to the field.
23 mins. It’s still early days, but that has lifted Italy’s energy levels and Wales already looking laboured. One of the notable things about this current Welsh squad is that their heads can go down quick when they have to dig themselves out. This is a real test now.
TRY! Italy 10 - 3 Wales (Ange Capuozzo)
21 mins. After a break in play for some treatment to a couple of players Italy spring from a scrum near the Wales 22. They go right, up the blind side to Garbisi who dinks a grubber forward to the in-goal area where Capuozzo dives on it very close to line to ground it one-handed. He was millimetres away from being in touch, an exceptional finish.
Allan converts.
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17 mins. Nick Tompkins has been flagged for an HIA and is replaced by Josh Hathaway.
PENALTY! Italy 3 - 3 Wales (Ben Thomas)
16 mins. A quick tap is taken by Tomos Williams and he booms a kick deep into Italy territory. They boot it back and on the return by Wales the blue defenders are too keen to get at Williams again, tackling him without the ball.
Ben Thomas opts of the kick and delivers the first points of the tournament for his team.
13 mins. The first bit of quality kicking to compete comes from Ben Thomas as his bomb is chased then won by Murray in the air as he climbs above Allan. This puts Wales in a good position on the ball in the Italian half but the the passes left are not convincing, meaning the attack fizzles out with a forward pass into touch in front of Adams on the left touchline
11 mins. Lots of action in the middle third of the field as both sides have a couple of phases and then kick it away. It remains very wet and this could be the pattern for the match, unfortunately.
8 mins. Will Rowlands loses a lineout under pressure from Cannone, but Page-Relo ruins the work of his team-mate by booming his clearing kick out of the full from outside the 22.
PENALTY! Italy 3 - 0 Wales (Tommaso Allan)
6 mins. Wales are off their feet at the ruck as Italy venture into their territory. Allan calls for the tee and opens his account for the day.
3 mins. Very little nonsense in Italy’s receiving of the kick off as they execute a couple of settling carries before seeing the ball off the field via Page-Relo’s boot. Wales win the lineout and have some phases just in the Azzuri half. There’s not much happening before Tomos Williams spots a gap in the left corner and dabs a kick there with the outside of this his boot, but Josh Adams fumbles it as he tries to gather it close to the touchline.
The try was on if it was gathered, but it was a half-chance really.
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Kick Off!
The ball sails through the grey sky and towards Italy to get the game started.
The teams are walking out into a very wet and miserable afternoon in Rome. The anthem formalities will soon be done and we can get underway.
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Officials for the match today
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referee 1: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referee 2: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Warren Gatland is playing down the cataclysmic, seismic and/or devastating importance of this match.
How are the nerves, Wales fans? Of what about the level of confidence in Italian ranks? Interested people of other nations may also have views and all of them can be sent to me via email or you could give me a shout on Bluesky if that’s a thing you do now.
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Teams
Gonzalo Quesada makes only one change to the starting line-up from last week, Niccolo Cannone replacing Dino Lamb in the second row.
Some very late injury news for Wales with Liam Williams and Daf Jenkins both withdrawn within an hour of kick off. Blair Murray moves to fullback and Freddie Williams to lock, which will bring Josh Hathaway and Teddy Williams onto the bench
In more planned news, an injury to Owen Watkin means a change at centre for Wales with young Scarlet Eddie James the man coming in. In the forwards, Warren Gatland can take some comfort in the return of 105-cap Taulupe Faletau to the Number 8 shirt.
Italy: Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro (capt), Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Luca Rizzoli, Marco Riccioni, Dino Lamb, Manuel Zuliani, Ross Vintcent, Alessandro Garbisi, Jacopo Trulla.
Wales: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Nick Tompkins, Eddie James, Josh Adams; Ben Thomas, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Evan Lloyd, Henry Thomas; Will Rowlands, Freddie Thomas; James Botham, Jac Morgan (capt), Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Aaron Wainwright, Rhodri Williams, Dan Edwards, Josh Hathaway.
Preamble
Dylan Thomas, the finest word mitherer ever produced by Wales, once wrote, “Isn’t life a terrible thing, thank God?”. The nation’s rugby fans have no need to endlessly explore their tortured souls like a poet to know what he means. However, like Thomas’s character Polly Garter who spoke those words, there can be a unifying, inspiring purpose and strange pride to be harvested from what others judge of your pitiful state. This is what Warren Gatland and his team must find today as they walk out in Rome to what is clearly their best chance to end the very-unlucky-for-them thirteen game run of defeats.
Italy will be similarly motivated to defibrillate some life into their tournament after a spluttering display in the loss to Scotland. They are in front of a home crowd with memories of wins over the men in red in two of their last three meetings. Expectations will rightly be running high for a settled squad against a Wales team at perhaps their lowest ebb since the game turned professional in the mid 1990s.
Everything regarding form and levels of fandom hope points to a victory for the Azzurri, but the visitors today will recall that the two recent defeats were of the tiniest margin, and also puzzlingly not in Rome but in Cardiff. It feels like crumbs of comfort, probably because it is.
One team’s life will be remain a terrible thing soon enough, find out which one with me here.
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