North’s on the double for Wales as victory moves them up to second
Wales moved up to second in the Six Nations table behind champions Ireland after claiming an expected bonus point victory over Italy yesterday.
It was not always plain sailing for Wales before they made it 12 successive wins against the Azzurri, but their superior class and finishing ability ultimately told during a 38-14 triumph.
Wing George North – back in action following a recent difficult time at his club Northampton – set the tone with a try double, while centre Hadleigh Parkes, lock Cory Hill and flanker Justin Tipuric also crossed.
Fly-half Gareth Anscombe kicked three conversions and a penalty, while substitute Leigh Halfpenny added two conversions, although Italy initially refused to go quietly.
They replied through a touchdown for full-back Matteo Minozzi that fly-half Tomasso Allan converted, making it 14-7, before Mattia Bellini touched down late on – Carlo Canna added the extras – yet a muchchanged Wales team never found themselves under serious threat as North took centre stage.
Taulupe Faletau, who was captaining Wales for the first time, was pleased with his side’s performance.
“It was good, we wanted the five points today and we played well in phases. Overall we’re pleased with the result,” he said. “It was a great honour to lead the boys out.”
Meanwhile, South Africa-born back-rower CJ Stander has conceded Ireland’s grand slam bid against England on Saturday is now the biggest game of his career.
Ireland have sealed their third Six Nations title in five years and the goal now is to make it five wins out of five in their final game of the season.
Stander said: “You set goals for yourself at the beginning of the year and on a personal level you strive to be part of that. we’ve got an opportunity and we’ve got to make sure we rest up and get ready for next week.
“We’ve talked to players and ex-players who won the grand slam. This group, we haven’t had the opportunity so we can look back at how they did it and what it meant to them. We’ve still got a job to do.”