Wales v Italy

Pack ran out of steam and bench didn't have the impact. Front row was strong but lost it when Francis went off. 

It's great to have a win and be actually  watching  forca change.

I thought this was a game too far for this Italy team. Playing 5 6N games in 6 weeks was always going to be a challenge for some, particularly for teams with a lack of depth, ie Italy and Scotland with only 2 pro sides to select from.

Wales pack went well and Italy seemed to implode, conceding a series of soft tries. Wales backs worked hard in defense but rarely threatened in attack, despite a lot of front foot ball.

Dan Edwards had his best game for Wales, but was under little pressure behind a largely dominant pack. My concern at 10, 12, 13 is that Wales have only looked creative in mid-field in the first half against Scotland.

The back three also looks unbalanced. LRZ looks like a specialist wing, playing full back and the back three defense of the contested high ball is disorganized and panicky.

The pack played well, Carre has got himself fit enough to scrummage, defend and run for 50mins, Lake is starting to fulfill his promise and Francis locks the scrum. Jenkins and Carter look a good complimentary second row pairing. The back row are outstanding in defense, but for me lack balance. Morgan will add intelligence, but some pace and link play with the backs would add an attacking edge.

All in all Tandy did what I hoped. He has made Wales difficult to beat. The next stage is to add an attacking edge, because they wont win many games by just being brave in defense.

Edited by Seagultaf - 15 March 2026 at 9:10am

It was nice to be in Cardiff for that.

Why wrote: Seagultaf wrote: I thought this was a game too far for this Italy team. Playing 5 6N games in 6 weeks was always going to be a challenge for some, particularly for teams with a lack of depth, ie Italy and Scotland with only 2 pro sides to select from. Wales pack went well and Italy seemed to implode, conceding a series of soft tries. Wales backs worked hard in defense but rarely threatened in attack, despite a lot of front foot ball. Dan Edwards had his best game for Wales, but was under little pressure behind a largely dominant pack. My concern at 10, 12, 13 is that Wales have only looked creative in mid-field in the first half against Scotland. The back three also looks unbalanced. LRZ looks like a specialist wing, playing full back and the back three defense of the contested high ball is disorganized and panicky. The pack played well, Carre has got himself fit enough to scrummage, defend and run for 50mins, Lake is starting to fulfill his promise and Francis locks the scrum. Jenkins and Carter look a good complimentary second row pairing. The back row are outstanding in defense, but for me lack balance. Morgan will add intelligence, but some pace and link play with the backs would add an attacking edge. All in all Tandy did what I hoped. He has made Wales difficult to beat. The next stage is to add an attacking edge, because they wont win many games by just being brave in defense. I’m sorry saying Carre has got himself fit to play 50 minutes just proves he has not been professional. He had a good six nations but just think what a player he could be if really fit. Mee was incredible in defence and Hawkins has his best game for Wales.

I agree Carre was not acting professionally, but he is now. My concern with the Wales mid field is that despite all the good ball the pack won in the first 50mins against Italy, the Wales backs never once looked like creating a try. All Wales scores came from forward domination and a major defensive error by Italy. Nothing was created by the backs.

I think Italy stepped up after 50 mins rather than Wales falling off - although you can understand a team that has only 2 wins in 3 years wanting to defend a 31 point lead rather than keep pushing to make it a 50 point lead.

Agreed, I think everyone on this forum has been questioning why we don't play LRZ on the wing...