Having seen Harri Ford kick Wales into a two point lead with a penalty in the 69th minute the final 10 were agonising for the Welsh coaching team and fans. Firstly, Italian wing Malik Faissal pounced on a lose pass near half way, hacedk on and appeared to have won the race for the try.
The TMO, who had earlier ruled out two Welsh tries, came to the rescue of the visitors by ruling he had lost control of the ball as he dived for the line. Then Whiffin had to watch and hope as home outside half Roberto Fasti lined-up a penalty from 30 metres that could have won the game.
If the Wales U20s head coach had put his head in his hands after Wales conceded their 17th penalty of the game in the dying moments, it was the Italian players and fans who followed suit as Fasti missed the target.
It meant Wales won for the first time on the road in the Six Nations since they beat England at Kingsholm in 2020 nine games ago and picked up only their fourth win in the last 17 games in the tournament.
“Ultimately international rugby is about winning, so we are delighted with that fact. Our set piece play kept us in the game in the first 20 minutes and allowed us to score two quick tries,” said Whiffin.
“I thought that was going to be our entry into the game, but we didn’t quite manage to put enough phases together to take the game from them. We’ve had two really good away performances from our pack and that shows the good work Marc Breeze has been doing with them outside the campaign.
“Hooker Harry Thomas is doing really well and now has four tries. That comes from the boys having a good driving maul.”
Thomas drove over for another brace and once again was denied a hat-trick by the TMO. The front row once again stood tall and now they will have to find a way to halt the Irish pack in Round 3.
“I’m frustrated but relieved. We didn’t start very well, everything we tried didn’t come off, and our discipline wasn’t great, which gave them opportunities in our 22,” added Whiffin.
“But what did please me was the way our forwards held out a number of five metres maul shots from the Italians and we also scrummaged well.
“I was disappointed about our overall penalty count and the fact we brought the referee into it, but I was pleased with the performance of our forwards throughout the game.
“We scored a couple of tries that were chalked off and that was part of the frustration. There was a big momentum shift when what would have been our fourth try from Dan Gemine got overturned. That might have turned the screw a bit momentum wise, but Italy grew off the back of that and it became a really tight finish to the game.
“I thought their boy was going to kick the last penalty and I was saying to myself that if he did, we didn’t deserve to win it because we didn’t execute well enough and we weren’t accurate enough with our discipline and with the ball to really stress them and put the game away.
“If I had any hair I’d have been pulling it out but I was glad the kick didn’t go over. We have to be better and to improve from this game because it’s going to be a tough challenge back at home in two weeks time against Ireland.
