Wales set up Slam showdown with seven-try Roman holiday
IT is a long way to go for a training session, but at least it was sunny.
Wales probably have had a tougher time of things at their Vale of Glamorgan hotel on a Tuesday afternoon than they did in Rome – but nonetheless they clinically thrashed Italy to set up a Grand Slam shot.
Scoring seven tries they sauntered past Italy, who offered precious little yet again aside from a Monty Ioane converted try, as two from Ken Owens, and one each for Josh Adams, Taulupe Faletau, George North, Callum Sheedy and Louis Rees-Zammit completed the rout.
After half an hour Wales already had a bonus point for scoring four tries. Owens had two of them, almost doubling his Welsh Test try tally in an afternoon, and it was all so achingly easy that you could almost hear the sharpening of knives at CVC towers.
With the private equity firm investing €425million in the Six Nations this week, becoming a one-seventh partner, you wondered how long they would want to be associated with a losing nation. This is 31 defeats in a row. No win still in Rome since 2013 and none at all since 2015.
The result is always inevitable these days. Italy’s tackles were softer than gelato, making Wales seem stronger than a double espresso.
Wales only fell short of their record tally for a Six Nations half, of 30, when Rees-Zammit had his try disallowed as Biggar passed to him forward.
Never mind, though, as 27-0 soon became 34-0 after the break. This time Jonathan Davies picked off two hapless defenders. North received the pop and ran one in from 40 metres out.
Ioane did manage a fine score down the left wing which Paolo Garbisi converted, ending more than a two-hour wait for Wales to concede a point against the Italians in three matches.
At one stage, the game had gone 18 minutes without a Welsh try – but substitute Sheedy danced in on the hour mark, taking a flicked pass from Josh Navidi, and he converted as Wales passed 40.
Rees-Zammit later picked off Carlo Canna’s wild pass by his own 22 and showed his pace to whizz in for his fourth try of the tournament 65 minutes in.
ITALY: J Trulla (E Padovani 43); M Bellini, J Brex, C Canna, M Ioane (O Fabiani 7-17, Riccionni ); P Garbisi (F Mori 54), S Varney (M Violi 63); D Fischetti (A Lovotti 65), L Bigi (capt), G Zilocchi (M Riccioni 33); N Cannone (M Lazzaroni 51 – reversal 63), D Sisi; S Negri, J Meyer (HIA – M Mbanda 25-35), M Lamaro. Yellow cards: Bigi 7, Riccioni 57. SCORERS - Try: M Ioane. Con: P Garbisi.
WALES: L Williams; L Rees-Zammit, G North (W Halaholo 46), J Davies, J Adams; D Biggar
(C Sheedy ’52), G Davies (L Williams 52); W Jones (R Carré 57), K Owens (E Dee), T Francis (L Brown 44); C Hill, AW Jones (capt) (J Ball 54); J Navidi, J Tipuric, T Faletau (A Wainwright 54).
SCORERS - Tries: J Adams, T Faletau, K Owens (2), G North, C Sheedy, L Rees-Zammit. Cons: D Biggar (3), C Sheedy (2). Pen: D Biggar.
REfEREE: Wayne Barnes.