The halftime score of 6-9 didn’t reflect Wales’ dominance of the first half where the much vaunted Italian scrum was taught a lesson in the craft of front row play by Gethin Jenkins, Richard Hibbard and Adam Jones.
The match swung in Wales’ favour in the 58th minute when Italy captain Martin Castrogiovanni was sent to the sin bin after referee Romain Poite had lost patience with the Azzurri scrum.
The grizzly prop had only just sat down in the naughty boy’s chair when winger Alex Cuthbert scythed through the Italy defence to score his side’s second try of the match. With Leigh Halfpenny slotting the conversion from the touchline, Ryan Jones’ men had put clear daylight between the two sides for the first time of the match.
The touchdown had put Wales into an unassailable 9-26 lead but Wales were unable to build on their dominance and superiority as the weather conditions contrived to make the closing stages an ugly spectacle of dropped passes and poor execution by the home side.
The first half saw little free flowing rugby as the rain hammered down. The ever reliable Halfpenny chipped over three penalties in reply to two by Kris Burton to ensure Wales entered the second half in front.
Things may have been different had Italy scored immediately after the re-start but a last ditch tackle by Dan Biggar denied the Azzurri in the opening minute of the second half – and that was as close as they got to scoring a try for the remainder of the match.
Wales dominated the ruck area with – and without the ball. Italy scrum half Edoardo Gori had a torrid time at the rucks with Jenkins hounding him in particular.
Wales edged further in front in the 45th minute after Jonathan Davies displayed his predatory try scoring prowess once again. The Scarlets centre didn’t even touch the ball in the first half but he showed patience and skill to pick up a loose ball to score with his first touch of the ball in the game.
Burton and Halfpenny traded penalties as Italy desperately attempted to stay in the match but once Castrogiovanni saw yellow, it proved to be the beginning of the end for the home side as Wales held on to win their fourth consecutive match away from home – the first time the feat has been achieved for more than 30 years.
