Wales scored seven tries through Josh Adams, Taulupe Faletau, Ken Owens (2), George North, Callum Sheedy and Louis Rees-Zammit as they secured a comfortable 48-7 win over Italy in Rome in the Six Nations
Saturday 13 March 2021 17:33, UK
Wales moved one win away from landing the Guinness Six Nations title and a Grand Slam after crushing Italy 48-7 in Rome on Saturday.
The unbeaten tournament leaders reeled off a third successive bonus-point victory to increase pressure on their rivals for silverware.
Here, we look at how the Wales players rated...
15. Liam Williams: 7/10
Content to run from deep in broken play but unable to prevent Monty Ioane claiming consolation in corner.
14. Louis Rees-Zammit: 8
Box-office pace rewarded with length-of-the-field interception try after Dan Biggar forward pass denied him earlier score.
13. George North: 8
Loves playing against Italy and no surprise the winger-turned-centre punished the Azzurri for the eighth successive game.
12. Jonathan Davies: 7
Showed great ripping strength and ran clever support lines as midfield partnership with North blossomed again.
11. Josh Adams: 7
Started try fest and ran strongly throughout, but strangely failed to ground ball in time for another score.
10. Dan Biggar: 7
Revelled in armchair ride to get the Wales backline moving and was brave in defence and under the high ball. 7
9. Gareth Davies: 7
Quick tap played part in first Wales try and lively at base before making way for Lloyd Williams.
1. Wyn Jones: 8
One of the biggest pluses for Wales in this Championship and mobility underlined Lions credentials again.
2. Ken Owens: 8
Hit the right notes at anthem time and did not miss a beat either with his line-out throwing. Rare try double.
3. Tomas Francis: 7
No-frills prop who helped establish Wales' forward dominance in the tight and loose.
4. Cory Hill: 7
Committed display and almost repeated try-scoring show against England on return to the starting line-up.
5. Alun Wyn Jones: 7
Solid shift from the veteran captain who worked tirelessly in defence to stop Italy gaining forward momentum.
6. Josh Navidi: 9
Started tournament on bench but huge workrate and now key figure, superb hands for Callum Sheedy try.
7. Justin Tipuric: 8
Flanker's blue scrum cap seemed everywhere in attack and defence, while he also proved a reliable source of line-out ball.
8. Taulupe Faletau: 8
Enjoying a good run of form and exploited the wide channels to score first Wales try since 2016.
Replacements:
Callum Sheedy came off the bench to score first Test try, while centre Willis Halaholo also impressed in adapting to pace of the game quickly. Wales coach Wayne Pivac emptied his bench by the 57-minute mark ahead of Grand Slam clash with France.
