Italy vs Wales result: Player ratings as Wayne Pivac’s side storm to huge victory to keep Grand Slam alive
Italy 7-48 Wales: The visitors were dominant and are now one game away from replicating their 2019 Grand Slam
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Wales scored seven tries in a huge Six Nations bonus-point win against Italy to keep their Grand Slam dreams alive.
Wayne Pivac’s side recorded a 48-7 victory and it didn’t take long for Wales to get out of the blocks.
Josh Adams and Taulupe Faletau both had crashed over the whitewash after just 15 minutes to cause Franco Smith to put his head in his hands. Hooker Ken Owens then added another two scores to secure the bonus point before half-time.
Heading into the break the Italians were 27-0 down and Wales didn’t take their foot off of the gas in the second half as they continued to score.
George North and Louis Rees-Zammit dotted down with Callum Sheedy scoring his first international try.
Monty Ioane got a consolation score but it didn’t inspire a comeback as Italy continue to wait for their first Six Nations win since 2015.
Here are the player ratings from the Stadio Olimpico:
Italy:
Jacopo Trulla- 4
He made more mistakes than he made improvements from his performance against Ireland two weeks ago.
Mattia Bellini- 3
Only heard his name mentioned a few times in the match, he looked promising when fed the ball but the lack of attack from Italy stalled him.
Juan Ignacio Brex- 4
A similar situation to Bellini but he looked impressive when given the chance to perform.
Carlo Canna - 5
Promising with ball in hand but too many errors to be higher than a five.
Montanna Ioane - 6
It was a mistake to take Ioane off temporarily in the first half when Franco Smith re-structured his side after Luca Bigi was shown yellow. Great try in the second half.
Paolo Garbisi -5
Fumbled the ball too many times and kicked the ball out on the full at the start of the match.
Stephen Varney -5
He is a promising star for his club Gloucester and shows some signs of brilliance for Italy but he’s not doing enough on the international stage.
Danilo Fischetti - 4
Another Italian star who isn’t impressing at the moment.
Luca Bigi - 2
Second yellow card in two matches for the captain, not leading by example when Italy really need inspiration.
Giosuè Zilocchi - 3
Great for Italy come scrum time but not given enough chances to impress.
Niccolò Cannone - 3
Just not doing enough to put his team on the front foot.
David Sisi - 4
He is good when tackling but isn’t given enough time on the ball to show his best performance.
Sebastian Negri - 5
Yet another player who could be great, he made 60 metres and had 12 carries but lack of teach cohesion is letting him down.
Johan Meyer - 4
He lost the ball in a tackle which nearly lead to Rees-Zammit scoring a try.
Michele Lamaro -3
Unimpressive with ball in hand, Italy need to start getting their fundamentals right as a team.
Wales:
Liam Williams - 7
Williams is consistently good for Wales and today’s match was no exception. He made good metres but wasn’t challenged under high ball or with any covering tackles. Prefer to see him on the wing, his best performance of the tournament has been against Scotland, but with Josh Adams and Louis Rees-Zammit as competition Williams will be happy he is getting on the field.
Louis Rees-Zammit - 8
Wales’ star of the moment and of the future, Rees-Zammit once again displayed his world class talent. If it were not for a forward pass by Dan Biggar he would have scored in the first half. Great eye for space and has the speed to follow through with his skill when he puts boot to ball. Amazing interception and pace to score in the second half.
George North - 8
While he may not be grabbing headlines as much as Rees-Zammit and Adams, North continues to be a sure starter for Wales. Great run for the line to score Wales’ fifth try of the afternoon and solid in defence in his 101st cap, there’s no doubt he’ll be collecting many more.
Jonathan Davies - 8
Davies stopped Italy’s most promising attack play as he ripped the ball in the ruck and fed a beautiful ball to North to score.
Josh Adams -9
Every time Adams had the ball in hand he looked dangerous. Superb catch and run for the line to score his first try and unlucky to get his second ruled out. He is becoming indispensable for Wales.
Dan Biggar - 7
Biggar missed two kicks but hit a huge punt to put his team in a great position in the 22 in the first 40.
Gareth Davies - 6
Solid performance from the scrum-half but not as good as injured Kieran Hardy was against England. He has more to do to prove himself to be a guaranteed starter.
Wyn Jones - 7
Not his best game of the tournament but he continued to be a great presence for Wales.
Ken Owens - 9
A huge performance from the hooker saw him score two tries and consistent line-out success. He is possibly the best hooker in world rugby at the moment.
Tomos Francis - 7
Another solid stint from the prop, he has been a great player for Wales’ unbeaten run.
Cory Hill - 7
He made good metres in attack but he did concede Wales’ first penalty of the match.
Alun Wyn Jones - 8
Another composed captain performance for Wyn Jones, he is the most experienced player in the world and he has a lot more rugby left in him.
Josh Navidi - 8
Great pass to Callum Sheedy to score, consistent in all areas of the pitch. He won Player of the Match for his huge carries and passes.
Justin Tipuric - 6
He has been great for Wales for years. The fact he is still on the starting sheet and plays as good as he did today is a testament to how phenomenal he is for his country.
Taulupe Faletau - 8
He scored a great try and looked fresh despite playing every game for Wales and his club Bath in the rest weeks of the Six Nations.
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