Deadeye Hawkins delivers killer Blow
JOE Hawkins’ late penalty sealed victory for Wales to set up a Summer Series final against South Africa.
Tournament hosts Italy scored the game’s first two tries through Dewi Passerella and Lorenzo Pani, but two Welsh penalties kept them in touch before they snatched the lead with their first try through Nathan Evans.
Italy hit back with a penalty, but Wales earned a five-point buffer at the break as Christ Tshinuza went over with the clock in the red for the first half.
The second half was scoreless for a long period and with just over ten minutes remaining in the half Federico Cuminetti equalised for the Italians, but Hawkins sealed a memorable victory for
Wales to cap an impressive pool stage.
Wales will be underdogs in the final, coming from a weaker pool than their rivals, but this has been a superb campaign for their youngsters and they can go into the decisive match with a quiet confidence.
It was a disastrous start for Wales, and with a fine finish from Passerella and a clinical score from Pani – who cut an excellent line through the defence from a 5m scrum set-move – it looked as if it wouldn’t be Wales’ day.
But Hawkins’ penalties showed they were here to fight, and after running a close range penalty, Evans – who had earlier been carded for collapsing at the scrum – drove over after multiple phases to give
Wales the lead. Thshinuza did the same soon after, but despite having Pani in the sin-bin for an aerial challenge, Giovanni Sante’s boot kept the Azzurri in touch at the break with a penalty in between those two tries.
The scoring dried up after half-time, but Italy gradually ramped up the pressure. Prop Adam Williams was carded, the third different Welsh prop to be carded in the game, before Federico Cuminetti finally broke through to score in the corner with 10 minutes to play.
But with the conversion wide, the game remained level, and Hawkins made no mistake with a penalty five minutes from time to spark wild celebrations at full-time from the Welsh bench.