Sillari inflicts last minute heartache on Wales

WALES suffered late heartbreak as Michela Sillari’s penalty fired Italy to a dramatic last-gasp win in Cardiff.

Sillari battled through the boos of the Arms Park crowd to snatch the win in the 79th minute.

Ioan Cunningham’s side finished third in the Championship overall – their best position in the Six Nations since 2009 – after a late try from Kiera Bevan gave them the bonus points required to stay there.

Welsh skipper Siwan Lillicrap, 34, said: “I’m so disappointed. We started really well, probably the best we started all campaign. We got ahead, but the way we then finished is heart wrenching.

“For the first 20 minutes we were all over them but didn’t convert any points and we did well to defend with two players down.”

They secured third place, their best position in the Six Nations since 2009.Lillicrap added: “We win together and we lose together and we fought to the death there.

“We absolutely should have won today and the next step now is trying to take those opportunities when we do start better.

“We’ve got to finish that with execution.”

The Dragons came flying out of the traps as Alisha Butchers and Lisa Neumann made a beeline for the Italy 22 within the first two minutes. But it started to rain yellow in Cardiff after 20 minutes as both Wilkins and Sioned Harries were sent to the sin-bin for high tackles.

With Wales down to 13, Andrea di Giandomenico’s side were quick to take advantage and struck gold in the 32nd minute as Sara Barattin held off Wales’ defence for a converted try.

After a hard-fought second half for both sides, Bevan finally found the line to give the Dragons the lead for the first time with under five minutes to play. But it all came down to the final minute as Sillari grabbed the Italians victory with a cool penalty.