WALES
No.Name
15Liam Williams, -
14George North, -
T
2
13Owen Watkin, -
12Hadleigh Parkes, -
T
11Steffan Evans, -
10Gareth Anscombe, -
3
9Gareth Davies, -
1Nicky Smith, -
2Elliot Dee, -
3Tomas Francis, -
4Cory Hill, -
T
5Bradley Davies, -
6Justin Tipuric, -
T
7James Davies, -
8Taulupe Faletau, -
Replacements
16Ken Owens, -
17Rob Evans, -
18Rhodri Jones, -
19Seb Davies, -
20Ellis Jenkins, -
21Aled Davies, -
22Rhys Patchell, -
23Leigh Halfpenny, -
2

*Players currently on the pitch are shown in bold

Game Info

Venue: Principality Stadium
3:00 PM, March 11, 2018
All CommentaryKey Events

Match Commentary

81'Full time, a handsome victory on paper for Wales but they din't have it all their own way. Italy can take some credit but failed to make it count on the scoreboard
81'+238-14 End of second half
80'Half the ground think North has scored but Garces goes back for an earlier knock on
80'Patchell chips to the corner, one final go for Wales
79'Parkes is announced as MOM as Wales push for a final try with the advantage
78'The TMO has been called in for a possible deliberate knock on from Italy. Benvenuti gets an early shower
78'Yellow card - Tommaso Benvenuti , Italy
77'38-14 Conversion - Carlo Canna , Italy
76'TRY! Italy turn over the ball in the Wales 22 and Bellini scores in the corner. Finally they make some pressure tell, just 70 minutes too late
76'38-12 Try - Mattia Bellini , Italy
73'George North now shines in defence with a big hit on his opposite man as Italy threatened on an overlap. He smashes the winger before stealing the ball and making further hard yards
72'38-7 Conversion - Leigh Halfpenny , Wales
71'TRY! No doubt about this one, Tipuric gets Wales 5th of the day. Good work from the forwards before a tidy Parkes pass puts the flanker in untouched
71'36-7 Try - Justin Tipuric , Wales
69'Patchell has increased the pace of Wales attack since coming on. He delays a pass out wide and Seb Davies makes a break but his offload to Parkes is judged in touch
69'Substitute on - Carlo Canna , Italy
69'Player substituted - Tommaso Allan , Italy
69'Substitute on - Oliviero Fabiani , Italy
69'Player substituted - Leonardo Ghiraldini , Italy
68'
68'Player substituted - Sebastian Negri , Italy
68'Substitute on - Federico Ruzza , Italy
68'Player substituted - Tomas Francis , Wales
68'Substitute on - Rhodri Jones , Wales
68'31-7 Conversion - Leigh Halfpenny , Wales
67'TRY! George North has been impressive today in a poor game and dives over following a Patchell offload
66'Another set of changes, not sure the game needs them...
66'29-7 Try - George North , Wales
66'Player substituted - Cory Hill , Wales
66'Substitute on - Seb Davies , Wales
66'Player substituted - James Davies , Wales
66'Substitute on - Ellis Jenkins , Wales
65'No try, TMO says he cannot see a clear grounding. Crowd and players not happy to say the least
65'TRY! Parkes looks to have crossed over but Garces is going upstairs, in his own words he has "no idea"
64'The changes have only slowed down the game. Patchell manages to find touch from the next penalty
64'Substitute on - Guglielmo Palazzani , Italy
64'Player substituted - Marcello Violi , Italy
64'Substitute on - Tiziano Pasquali , Italy
64'Player substituted - Simone Ferrari , Italy
63'George North collects a kick and brushes off a few Italy defenders to set up another Welsh attack. Parisse then puts in a big hit to stop the attack and force a knock on
61'Wales back up the the full 15 and win a penalty immediately at the ruck. The crowd are still quiet and will be hoping a few substitutes can bring the game to life
61'Substitute on - Rob Evans , Wales
61'Player substituted - Nicky Smith , Wales
61'Substitute on - Ken Owens , Wales
61'Player substituted - Elliot Dee , Wales
61'Substitute on - Nicola Quaglio , Italy
61'Player substituted - Andrea Lovotti , Italy
61'Player substituted - Gareth Anscombe , Wales
61'Substitute on - Rhys Patchell , Wales
61'Player substituted - Gareth Davies , Wales
61'Substitute on - Aled Davies , Wales
60'Italy win the penalty at the scrum, they're still fighting out there but are failing to make it show on the scoreboard
57'Very close to a length of the field try for Wales. Parkes chips over and James davies collects before a tidy offload to Faletau. The captain powers forwards before throwing a pass to Tipuric who then finds Evans but the winger knocks on metres from the line
56'Again they lose the ball at a crucial moment and Wales clear before Garces comes back for a penalty
55'Italy have a scrum in a good position still with the man advantage. Violi breaks from the base and Benvenuti then makes some yards
53'Wales running the clock down while they have 14. Steff Evans has gone into 9 while Davies is off
51'Player substituted - Liam Williams , Wales
51'Substitute on - Leigh Halfpenny , Wales
50'Italy get another lineout from the Welsh clearance but again they make a meal of it. They drop a simple pass in the midfield and Parkes clears it into the Italy 22. Halfpenny come son for Wales in place of Liam Williams
49'On cue they lose the ball at their own lineout...
49'Yellow card - Gareth Davies , Wales
48'Another yellow for Wales, this time Gareth Davies for a deliberate knock on. Italy still knocking on the door but struggling to make it count once again
46'George North wins a turnover on the floor and Faletau crashes up on the following play. Italy then turn the ball over and Allan once again kicks his team into the 22
45'Wales now into a commanding lead without getting out of third gear and still with 14 on the pitch. Could the flood gates soon open?
44'24-7 Conversion - Gareth Anscombe , Wales
43'TRY! Wales pounce early on and Cory Hill powers over from close range. Again the Italians are punished for their needless mistakes
43'22-7 Try - Cory Hill , Wales
42'Italy under pressure early on with a lineout in their own 5. Italy just about stay in front of their own line before Allan's kick is charged down and Wales now have the scrum 5m out
41'The players are back out on the pitch ready for the second 40. Wales need to step up from the first period if they want to bring the crowd into the game. Willams will miss the first ten minutes
41'
41'+317-7 End of first half
41'+3Yellow card - Liam Williams , Wales
40'A strange first-half is brought to an end with Liam Williams given a yellow for a high tackle
40'Anscombe goes for the crossfield with another advantage being played. Minozzi saves the day again but is smashed by Williams that sets up some handbags. TMO is called in but does not look much to it bar a strong hit
40'Wales steal the ball from the Italy lineout and Dee nearly breaks through. Wales get another penalty as Garces says Dee was held back. Anscombe goes to the corner
40'17-7 Start of second half
37'The Wales fly-half makes no mistake and extends the lead to ten points. Whether Wales deserve it is up for debate
37'Italy try and go wide from the scrum but Bisegni drops a simple pass and Wales get the penalty. Anscombe points to the post and all Italy's hard work goes to nothing again
37'17-7 Penalty goal - Gareth Anscombe , Wales
35'A scrappy couple of minutes ends with Anscombe knocking on from a terrible box kick. Italy will look to put some points on the board before the half is up and make the most of this momentum
33'Wales have been very poor since their early tries. Italy have been dominant but just can't convert the pressure into points
32'Allan points to the post but his kicks drifts just wide, a costly miss in the circumstances
30'Italy again threatening and happy to throw the ball around. They win another penalty and Parisse asks how many before a card is brought out
27'The maul goes nowhere but the Italians manage to recycle the ball. They string a few phases together but an isolated runner is not able to get the ball away and Wales win the penalty
26'Italy get their drive on and win a penalty again. The referee will have a decision to make if this continues, Allan again pops the ball into the corner
25'The penalties are starting to stack up against Wales. Allan is up and able to take his side into the Welsh 22 again
24'A hectic minute is brought to an end with a thumping tackle on Allan by Faletau. Wales hacked the ball through after a loose Parisse pass went to no one, before Minozzi did brilliantly to chase back and prevent Williams from racing onto the ball
21'Italy try the maul but Parisse slips and the maul is down with the No.8. Thankfully for them the referee awards them the scrum, still in a great position
21'Italy with a lot of the ball but not making much progress. James Davies then blown up for a late hit. Allan pings it right into the Wales 5. Big moment for Italy here
18'No try! Davies was offside by a metre or two, easy decision. Italy have the penalty
17'Possible try! Wales go off the top again and a neat midfield move puts Steff Evans through who chips through. Davies collects to score unopposed but may be in front of the ball
17'Italy can only scramble it away to the 22. Wales play from the top off the lineout and threaten briefly before Davies knocks on
15'Wales win their own ball quickly before turning it over on the halfway after a strong chase. Parkes then takes matters into his own hands and finds touch with a great kick deep in the Italy 22
15'Substitute on - Giovanni Licata , Italy
15'Player substituted - Maxime Mbanda , Italy
14'Italy turn over the ball in the Wales half and another neat break from Minozzi takes them up to the 22. Violi grubbers through and hands the ball back to Wales, a questionable decision
13'Anscombe goes for the short kick off but Parisse collects. Violi makes a mess of his kick away but somehow re-gathers his own kick. Second time lucky as he clears to halfway
12'14-7 Conversion - Tommaso Allan , Italy
10'TRY! Italy win the lineout and wonderful feet from Minozzi out wide allows him to score in the corner
10'14-5 Try - Matteo Minozzi , Italy
9'Italy back on the attack and win a penalty in the Wales half. Allan kicks to the corner as they chase the game even at this early stage
8'14-0 Conversion - Gareth Anscombe , Wales
6'TRY! From one end to the other in a flash. Watkins intercepts a loose pass and does much of the hard work before finding North who dives over
6'12-0 Try - George North , Wales
5'TRY! Hadleigh Parkes cruises over after a bad miss from the Italians in the defensive line
5'7-0 Conversion - Gareth Anscombe , Wales
5'Player substituted - Tommaso Castello , Italy
5'Substitute on - Jayden Hayward , Italy
4'Wales win their lineout and close in on the line through the forwards
4'5-0 Try - Hadleigh Parkes , Wales
3'James Davies into the thick of it straight away with a turnover at the ruck. Wales threaten out wide but it comes to nothing and the referee goes back to the original penalty. Anscombe kicks into the corner to the delight of the Welsh crowd
2'Italy pull a few phases together early on but Wales hold strong and Allan is forced into a wasteful chip through that Williams clears easily
1'George North collects comfortably and a couple of phases later Gareth Davies is able to clear
1'Allan hoists the ball into the air and the final game of Round Four is up and running
1'The big band strikes up and the anthems are underway. Not long to kickoff
1'The team's are in the tunnel awaiting the go ahead to come out onto the pitch. The hymns continue to ring around Cardiff
1'James Davies makes his long-awaited debut at openside with Gareth Anscombe starting at ten after impressing off the bench and from full-back in the opening weeks
1'Toby Faletau captains Wales for the first time while George North will be hoping to continue his resurgence on the wing.
1'Hello and welcome to ESPN's coverage of Wales vs. Italy from the Principality Stadium. Wales have made 10 changes but will be looking to put the Azzuri to the sword in front of a big crowd
1'0-0 Start of first half

Six Nations 2018 News