Italy vs Wales result: Two wins from two for Warren Gatland’s side in gritty win over winless Italians
Re-live the action from the Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico
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Your support makes all the difference.Re-live the live action from Saturday’s second Six Nations as Wales equalled their longest winning Test run with a 26-15 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Warren Gatland’s men have now won 11 games in a row thanks to second-half tries from Josh Adams and Owen Watkin, with four Dan Biggar penalties helping to establish an early lead that Italy would never recover from.
It home side did manage to get back into the game with a Braam Steyn try before the break, but despite another late flourish as Edoardo Padovani scored his second in as many weeks, Italy were not able to match Wales. Re-live the live action below.
What time does it start?
Italy vs Wales kicks off at 4:45pm (GMT).
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on ITV from 4pm. The match will also be available on ITV Hub.
Highlights will be shown on Sunday at 6pm on BBC Two.
Teams
Italy: Hayward, Padovani, Campagnaro, Morisi, Esposito, Allan, Palazzani, Quaglio, Ghiraldini, Ferrari, Sisi, Budd, Negri, Steyn, Parisse (c)
Replacements: Bigi, Traore, Pasquali, Ruzza, Barbini, Gori, McKinley, Benvenuti
Wales: Williams, Holmes, J Davies (c), Watkin, Adams, Biggar, A Davies, Smith, Dee, Lee, Ball, Beard, Wainwright, Young, Navidi
Replacements: Elias, W Jones, Lewis, A W Jones, Moriarty, G Davies, Anscombe, Amos
Form guide…
Italy: WLWLLL
Wales: WWWWWW
Head-to-head…
Wales 38 (Parkes, North x2, Hill, Tipuric) Italy 14 (Minozzi, Bellini), Six Nations, March 2018
Italy 7 (Gori) Wales 33 (J Davies, L Williams, North), Six Nations, February 2017
Wales 67 (Webb, Biggar, J Davies, Roberts, North, L Williams, Moriarty x2, G Davies) Italy 14 (Palazzani, Garcia), Six Nations, March 2016
Odds…
Italy to win: 10/1
Wales to win: 1/16
Draw: 45/1
Prediction
Wales by 20 points: Despite heavily rotating his side, Warren Gatland can still expect his team to do a professional job on an Italy side that looks lost at sea at present. Even though Conor O'Shea's men are on home turf, it will take a monumental upset for Italy to record their first win over Wales in a dozen years.
35 mins: Well credit where credit is due. The forwards decided that the way forwards was through the tight fringes, and a series of one-out passes saw them work their way closer to the try line and across field. In the end a combination of Sisi and Parisse helped shove flanker Braam Steyn over for the try, and Allan's conversion gets Italy back into the match. Game on! 7-12
39 mins: Italy are growing into this game as Ferrari wins a penalty against Smith in the scrum, which Wales had been previously dominating. Allan sends the ball to touch inside the Welsh half and they'll have one last chance to score before the break.
40 mins: They get their wish. Negri goes up for the lineout and comes dangerously crashing down after contact in the air from Beard, handing Allan a fairly tricky shot at goal.
Half-time: Allan's penalty effort hits the left upright! Biggar kicks the ball into touch and Wales take a slender 12-7 lead into the changing rooms - but it could have been even less!
Half-time: Well, it hasn't been pretty, and to be frank Wales have not made a strong start to either of their matches so far this tournament. The one chance they've had to score a try they butchered with Davies' long pass, and you wonder how much the team changes has affected their cohesion.
For Italy, they have responded well to going 12-0 down and unlike Wales, when they got their chance to score they seized it with both hands. If Italy can make a quick start to the second half, we could be in for a shock you know.
Half-time: The teams re-emerge and we're ready to get the second half underway. Can Italy break their 18-match losing streak? We're about to find out.
The half-time verdict from our Welsh rugby correspondent Sam Peters:
43 mins: Italy are awarded an early penalty when Wales are offside, and Allan fires the ball to touch on the 22. They get their phases going only for the ball to come out of the ruck suspiciously and Mathieu Raynal awards a penalty for hands in the ruck. Allan duly converts and the lead is cut to 10-12.
46 mins: Wales this time get the penalty as Budd commits a high tackle, and Wales look like they're trying to get something going as Biggar turns down the shot at goal from near halfway to fire the ball to within seven metres of the try line. Can Wales get over the line?
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