Italy Stun Wales 22-15 as Gatland’s Struggles Continue in Six Nations

Italy Shine in Tough Conditions

Heavy rain made handling difficult, but Italy adapted better, taking an early lead through Allan’s boot before Capuozzo finished off a beautifully worked move to extend their advantage. The Italian fly-half was in fine form, slotting three penalties and a conversion to give his side a commanding 16-3 lead at halftime. In contrast, Wales were plagued by errors, committing 15 handling mistakes compared to Italy’s four, and struggled to convert possession into points.

Wales Struggle as Discipline and Decision-Making Falter

Wales suffered a major setback just before the hour mark when Josh Adams was sin-binned for a head-on-head collision. Allan capitalized, extending Italy’s lead to 19-3. Wales’ forwards finally sparked some late hope when Aaron Wainwright powered over from a rolling maul in the 69th minute, but the missed conversion left them with an uphill battle. A late penalty try brought them within touching distance, yet Italy held firm despite finishing the game with 13 players.

Pressure Mounts on Gatland as Wales Plunge in Rankings

This defeat plunges Wales to their lowest-ever world ranking of 12th, below Georgia, and raises serious questions about Gatland’s tenure. The team has now lost all eight of their Six Nations matches since last winning in Rome two years ago. With Ireland looming next in Cardiff, the pressure is mounting on Gatland to find solutions to his side’s alarming slump.

What’s Next?

Italy, buoyed by their first home win over Wales since 2007, now turn their attention to a challenging fixture against France. For Wales, the outlook is bleak as they prepare to host an in-form Ireland in desperate need of a turnaround.

With Wales’ Six Nations campaign spiraling, could this loss signal the beginning of the end for Gatland’s second stint in charge? One thing is certain: Italy’s resurgence under Gonzalo Quesada is well and truly underway, while Wales face a long road back to competitiveness.

Line-ups

Italy

15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.

Replacements

16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla.

Wales

15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Eddie James, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jac Morgan (captain), 6 James Botham, 5 Freddie Thoms, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Gareth Thomas.