North’s brace powersWelsh up to second
Wales 38 Italy 14
corner to get Italy back in it, before Gareth Davies had a try chalked off. Williams’ nightmare 40 minutes ended with a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Minozzi, as Wales went in at half-time with a 17-7 lead. Normal service was resumed three minutes after the restart when Cory Hill crashed over from close range. Scrum-half Davies saw yellow for a deliberate knock on, but North put the icing on the cake after 67 minutes when he barged over for his second try to snatch the bonuspoint win. There was still time for man-of-thematch Parkes to lob a pass to send Justin Tipuric over at the corner and Wales into second, before Mattia Bellini scuttled over for a consolation try to end it 38-14. “We’re doing everything right for the future of this country,” said Italy coach Conor O’Shea, who watched his side slip to a 16th straight Six Nations loss. “You just have to look at the performances of Matteo Minozzi, Mattia Bellini and Sebastian Negri to see that we’re going in the right direction.” GEORGE NORTH was back with a bang to send Wales soaring up the Six Nations table.
The giant wing blitzed Italy with a brace of tries as Warren Gatland’s men moved into second place with a bonus-point win.
And the Northampton flyer was delighted to put a week of club chaos behind him to get back among the tries.
“It’s been a difficult couple of weeks,” said North, who moved to third in the all-time Six Nations try-scoring rankings. “To get a start for your country means everything to me.
“Two tries was a bonus, but I was gutted to see the third one disallowed. That would have been the icing on the cake.
“It’s been a long time since I started for Wales, due to injury, so I was full of emotion after I scored.”
Wales stormed into a 14-0 lead inside six minutes thanks to tries from Hadleigh Parkes (right) and the rampaging North.
Gareth Anscombe converted both scores, but Gatland’s men took their foot off the gas.
Matteo Minozzi slipped past a feeble Liam Williams tackle to cross in the