2020 6 Nations - Wales vs Italy match thread

sydthebeat

George North, a 13 who cannot pass

sydthebeat

Disappointed that polledri hasn't been more effective today

razorblunt

“We can listen in to Bigi talking to Luke Pearce”, no we can’t because Jonathan DAvies is talking shîte.

conor678

Terrible match. Wales don't look like theyve massively changed thier style but to be fair it's only early days.

Italy are disappointing.

George north has been bad, can't see him playing 13 against better teams as he'll be exploited. The Welsh scrum has been poor too.

razorblunt

sydthebeat wrote: »

George North, a 13 who cannot pass

Can’t keep the defensive line either, been a mile offside most of the game

Clegg

Another good offload from Italy only to be knocked on in the next phase. Italian skill levels are all over the shop.

fitz

Eh... Surely Biggar comes in from the Italian side to make the pass???

razorblunt

lots of flops by wales on those rucks.
Did bigger come in through the Italian side ?

dublinman1990

That's a great try from Luke Pearce.

Squidgy Black

fitz wrote: »

Eh... Surely Biggar comes in from the Italian side to make the pass???

Unbelievably obvious. No idea how that wasn't pulled up immediately by the ref.

lawred2

I like Italy being in the six nations as a concept

The reality is abysmal though

dublinman1990

Wales BP try from George North.

EDIT: Oh well. It was a knock on.

Clegg

Comes off Tompkins hand and then the Italian hand.

razorblunt

Davies deriding the check as something “they like to do nowadays”.

razorblunt

Half penny stepped into him.

Bridge93

Halfpenny blatantly stepped across there?

razorblunt

For a quick lineout there that still took an age to get out to the backs. Strange.

Squidgy Black

Every time Italy get a couple of phases together or make a line break they just go absolutely braindead and turn possession over by some silly mistake.

Every year there's hope that they've improved, especially given the way Treviso are starting to build, but they've been absolutely brutal today.

prawnsambo

Bridge93 wrote: »

Halfpenny blatantly stepped across there?

looked like it alright. But he's having one of his best games for Wales in ages.

Kiith

Italy just can't seem to anything right. Even the absolute basics seem really difficult at times.

stephen_n

Webb feeding there between his loosehead and the blindside. It wasn’t even near the channel. How do referees not pull that.

razorblunt

the Italians have a great backrow but they really, really need to impose themselves. Zanni shouldn’t start either. Steyn is usually reliable but he’s tried to force things far too much.

They’re dead in the water without a 10 though. How decent is their u20s 10?

fitz

Kiith wrote: »

Italy just can't seem to anything right. Even the absolute basics seem really difficult at times.

And in that context, Wales have not impressed.

razorblunt

stephen_n wrote: »

Webb feeding there between his loosehead and the blindside. It wasn’t even near the channel. How do referees not pull that.

They don’t care, unless they’re Jaco Peyper reffing a host nation at a World Cup.

dublinman1990

GN for Wales now has his 40th try officially sealed which gives them the BP.

Kiith

fitz wrote: »

And in that context, Wales have not impressed.

True. You can only beat what's in front of you and all that, but it's taken then long enough to get the BP. You'd expect them to be better against other teams though.

razorblunt

I know McNicholls took a knock to the head early on but he’s not looked great (as he hasn’t all season) but surely Tompkins and Rees-Zammit should be ahead of him?

Cheika had a good point that Pivac seems to pick players as a collective unit that gel together potentially better.

stephen_n

I’m sure Wales will be happy enough, new setup and a bonus point home victory. We have learned very little though. Italy’s lack of basic skills is very disheartening, they have almost gone backwards.

dublinman1990

HT try for Josh Adams.

Dubinusa

This 2nd half has been poor. Italy are really turning their possession into nothing.
Wales struggling a little in the scrum. From what I can see, Italy are not improved at all. They look good at u20 level so maybe they'll improve over the next year or so.

stephen_n

Why did Italy not kick that dead, they were never going to get out of there without making a mistake.

Kiith

stephen_n wrote: »

Why did Italy not kick that dead, they were never going to get out of there without making a mistake.

Another few points against them was worth the possibility of getting something on the board.

dublinman1990

Wow. A 42 point whitewash for Wales against Italy. That is a huge result for Wales.

I don't know how Andy Farrell will treat this result when our lads are in the Aviva against the Scots next.

Squidgy Black

stephen_n wrote: »

Why did Italy not kick that dead, they were never going to get out of there without making a mistake.

Pride. I don't think any team would kick the ball out if there was the slimmest chance they could even get up the field and get a penalty to prevent a shutout.

35 or 42 points for Wales isn't the most damning thing about the scoreline, it's the 0 for Italy.

prawnsambo

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Wow. A 42 point whitewash for Wales against Italy. That is a huge result for Wales.

I don't know how Andy Farrell will treat this result when our lads are in the Aviva against the Scots next.

Wasn't the convincing performance the scoreline might suggest.

penybont exile

prawnsambo wrote: »

Wasn't the convincing performance the scoreline might suggest.

Agree .... typical Wales v Italy game though .... I'm very happy with the result .... move on to next week where I suspect we'll be more focused & bring a bit more physicality.

stephen_n

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Pride. I don't think any team would kick the ball out if there was the slimmest chance they could even get up the field and get a penalty to prevent a shutout.

35 or 42 points for Wales isn't the most damning thing about the scoreline, it's the 0 for Italy.

Which is why there was pretty much zero chance of them going end to end without cocking it up. They had absolutely zero invention with the ball in hand. Couldn’t keep their shape beyond two phases and couldn’t manage 5 passes without a knock on. If Wales walked off the field I doubt Italy would have managed a score today.

penybont exile

penybont exile wrote: »

Agree .... typical Wales v Italy game though .... I'm very happy with the result .... move on to next week where I suspect we'll be more focused & bring a bit more physicality.

Congrats on your first six nations win under Pivac!

Hopefully we can do the same now in the Aviva.

Any thoughts on next week? I reckon Andy Farrell would take Pivac in a scrap so I can't see Wales winning.

penybont exile

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Congrats on your first six nations win under Pivac!

Hopefully we can do the same now in the Aviva.

Any thoughts on next week? I reckon Andy Farrell would take Pivac in a scrap so I can't see Wales winning.

After watching Ireland just now I kinda fancy our chances ...... as for Pivac .... was an NZ copper so I'm sure he can handle himself ....

sydthebeat

penybont exile wrote: »

After watching Ireland just now I kinda fancy our chances ...... as for Pivac .... was an NZ copper so I'm sure he can handle himself ....

Yeah I'm leaning towards Wales in that old.

They won't make the same mistakes that Scotland did.

It seems all you have to do to beat ireland is fast line speed and be a bolox at ruck time.

Pointe on the whistle doesn't help either side, but he won't be as inconsistent as reynal today.

randomname2005

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Unbelievably obvious. No idea how that wasn't pulled up immediately by the ref.

Or the TMO. Wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game in fairness, but there have been some awful misses by the officials this weekend. This, and the Scottish player lying on the ground, catching it and passing it back are two of the worst.