Italy capitalised on Welsh ill-discipline to claim back-to-back victories over the men in red for the first time, extending Warren Gatland’s team’s losing streak to 14 matches.
Wales started brightly, as they had in Paris. Deep in Italian territory, scrum-half Tomos Williams kicked across for Josh Adams near the corner post, but the slippery ball evaded the winger’s grasp. From the resulting scrum, Italy won a penalty, snuffing out the visitors’ early threat inside the 22.
Fullback Tommaso Allan opened the scoring after six minutes, slotting a penalty following a Welsh offside at a ruck. With the rain falling, a tactical kicking game seemed the likely approach.
Fly-half Ben Thomas responded with a penalty for Wales, levelling the score at 3-3 early in the second quarter. But with the clock approaching 20 minutes, Italy made their move. Playing with an advantage from a scrum, Paolo Garbisi executed a delightful show-and-go before nudging a grubber kick through, which the rapid Ange Capuozzo reached first to score.
Allan converted the try, putting Italy 10-3 ahead. Moments later, Garbisi attempted an ambitious drop goal from Wales’ 10-metre line, which narrowly dipped under the crossbar—an early sign that Italy were willing to strike from almost anywhere on a wet afternoon.
Azzurri head coach Gonzalo Quesada wouldn’t regret that miss for long. Allan extended Italy’s lead with two quickfire penalties, making it 16-3 as half-time loomed. Warren Gatland’s side needed a swift response to prevent Allan’s boot from slowly dismantling their hopes.
Wales nearly found one. Williams again kicked through for Adams, who came agonisingly close to grounding the ball, only for the wet conditions to betray him. Another promising attack was then halted when Adams’ pass to captain Jac Morgan was ruled forward.
Ten minutes into the second half, Gatland introduced Ospreys fly-half Dan Edwards in an attempt to turn the tide.
Italy, however, remained undeterred. Scrum-half Martin Page-Relo attempted an audacious penalty from deep inside his own half, striking the upright. The hosts, comfortably ahead by 13 points, were playing with confidence.
Wales’ frustrations deepened when Adams was shown a yellow card for a head-on-head tackle on Garbisi. Allan duly added another penalty to keep Italy firmly in control at 19-3.
Replacement back-rower Aaron Wainwright, one of Wales’ most experienced players, injected some life into his team, muscling over for a try. Edwards’ conversion attempt struck the post, leaving the score at 19-8 with ten minutes to play.
But Wales continued to concede penalties, and Allan continued to punish them, landing his sixth successful kick from eight attempts to stretch Italy’s lead to 22-8.
With the game entering its final moments, the hosts suffered a late scare. Replacement prop Marco Riccioni was shown a yellow card as Italy repeatedly infringed with Wales pressing in their 22. A minute later, Dino Lamb followed him to the sin bin, leaving the Azzurri down to 13 men and conceding a penalty try in the process. At 22-15, the faintest glimmer of hope appeared for Wales.
It proved too little, too late. Italy won a final penalty, and Garbisi booted the ball into touch, ending Welsh resistance and sparking celebrations in the Eternal City.
Italy punish Welsh ill-discipline to secure victory in Rome
