Wales thrash Italians to finish with a flourish
WALES boss Warren Gatland paid tribute to his players after they bounced back from their title-ending Twickenham loss to end the RBS 6 Nations campaign in record-breaking fashion.
Seven days on from a defeat against England that left Wales playing only for runners-up spot when Italy arrived at the Principality Stadium, they cut loose.
A 67-14 victory proved Wales’ biggest in Six Nations history, surpassing a 48-point winning margin against Scotland two years ago, and also the most points for them during one championship game as second place was emphatically secured.
Ross Moriarty (2), George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Liam Williams, Rhys Webb, Gareth Davies and Dan Biggar claimed touchdowns, with Biggar kicking five conversions and two penalties for a 21-point haul, while Rhys Priestland added three late conversions.
‘We are all disappointed with what happened last week,’ Gatland said.
‘The players were incredibly honest, and we spoke about how important it was to go out and deliver a performance, and in fairness to the players they did that.
‘I was hugely impressed by the way they responded to the disappointment of last week and putting it behind us to focus on finishing second (in the championship).
‘We have spoken about trying to change our game in this competition, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
‘We haven’t quite clicked during this campaign, but there are times when we have clicked – the last part of the second half against England, and today we have started to show something that looks like it is a game we can develop.’
Man-of-the-match North became only the second Wales player after Shane Williams eight years ago to score tries in four successive Six Nations Tests.
And Gatland added: ‘George has started to play in this campaign with a smile on his face and with real confidence, and he is probably getting back to where he was in 2013.’
Gatland said that Ospreys flanker Justin Tipuric was taken to hospital for observation after hitting his head on the turf after a nasty fall from an early lineout.
Italy claimed consolation scores from scrum-half Guglielmo Palazzani and centre Gonzalo Garcia, with Kelly Haimona kicking two conversions, but they suffered another thrashing seven days on from Ireland scoring 58 against them.
‘When you lose matches, it is normal that everyone talks about relegation. I understand that,’ talisman Sergio Parisse said.
‘But I think there is no way to have relegation in this tournament because can you imagine next year if someone like Ireland or Scotland are last and got relegated?
‘Do you think the (national) federations are going to accept that?’