A 14th successive defeat saw Warren Gatland’s side drop to their lowest-ever position in the world rankings of 12th. A result that will only surely heighten the pressure on head coach Warren Gatland.
A rainswept Rome provided a suitably miserable back-drop for a Wales team undone by Italy wing Ange Capuozzo’s first-half try, plus five penalties and a conversion from full-back Tommaso Allan.
The Welsh driving line-out brought an Aaron Wainwright score, a penalty try and two yellow cards in the closing stages of the contest as Italy finished with 13 players.
There was no reprieve, however, for Wales, with only a losing bonus point collected. Now there will be many questions asked before the resuming Six Nations action starting against Ireland in Cardiff on February 22.
Wales had to deal with the loss of two key players on the morning of the match after sickness saw Dafydd Jenkins join the injured Liam Williams in withdrawing from the original side named by Gatland.
15 handling errors that compared to just four by Italy told half the story, while 17 points from the boot of Tommaso Allan told the other half as Wales’ ill-discipline would be regularly punished.
Wales had more of the ball but, just as in Paris a week earlier, did precious little with it as they looked pedestrian and predictable.
Wales captain Jac Morgan said after the match:
“There were a couple of moments where we were not clinical in attack and in our kicking battles.
“There were opportunities there for us to take and we were not clinical enough. We will take it in now over the next fortnight and learn.
“It was a positive final quarter. We have to just start like that and take the opportunities earlier in the game.
“Our discipline let us down which gave Italy a lot of points at goal. So that is another area we need to look over in the next couple of weeks.”
[Lead image: Six Nations Rugby]
