Wales finally got a taste of victory in the 2002 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship, after a confident and competent 44-20 win over Italy at the Millennium Stadium.
Wales scored five tries on the day after two spells of pressure at the start of both halves, Craig Morgan, Dafydd James, Rhys Williams, Scott Quinnell and Andy Marinos all scoring on a day when the Welsh finally cut loose and showed their undoubted potential, against an admittedly flat and comparatively lifeless Italian XV.
The free-flowing form of the Welsh backs will no doubt have been a weight off the mind of caretaker coach Steve Hansen, as Tom Shanklin early on, then Rhys Williams in the second half, showed that fly-half Stephen Jones has potent weapons outside of him.
Craig Morgan was one of the major plusses for the Welsh, who struggled in the lineout early on against an Italian team without their talisman Diego Dominguez, Ramiro Pez making a good fist of filling in at fly-half in the absence of the Stade Francais dynamo.
Italy's try-scoring was restricted to two, Carlo Checchinato rumbling over in the right corner for a first half touch down, before Francesco Mazzariol managed a second late in the game, by which time the result was a mere formality.
Wales looked a shadow of Graham Henry's old tense side of four weeks ago, and there were no signs of stage fright as Craig Morgan touched down a spectacular try in the very first minute, lifting the volume in a Millennium Stadium which was far from full, and unusually quiet before kick-off.
Morgan's try came as a result of an enterprising and well-timed break from Andy Marinos, the Newport centre surging through the Italian midfield around halfway, before running straight to the 22 and floating a looped pass left to Morgan, who played a deftly-weighted grubber into the try area, diving down on the ball in the left corner.
Jones converted from way out wide, but Italy got back into the game with a Ramiro Pez penalty four minutes later, the Rotherham fly-half filling the boots of Dominguez with occasional silky touches, finding good line kicks throughout, and trying to exploit the talents of Cristian Stoica outside of him.
Wales continued their early tempo though, and it was only 11 minutes into the game when Bridgend's Dafydd James went over in the same left corner where Morgan had earlier scored.
The try came from a blindside burst on halfway from Nathan Budgett down the left, the Bridgend back-row exposing last man Pez before popping up in the tackle to the grateful James for an easy run-in, Jones again converting from out wide.
James again thought he had scored only minutes later when he touched down in the right corner as Wales piled on the pressure, but a keen eye from the touch judge revealed that a foot had been placed ever so slightly in touch just before James dived over the line under an Italian tackle.
Jones struck over another penalty for the rampant Welsh, but they were in for a shock as Italy counter-attacked with good effect on 20 minutes, Carlo Checchinato bundling himself over the line under a heap of bodies for a try.
The score came after a good break from livewire scrum-half Alessandro Troncon as he scurried from a quick tap penalty, before South African fullback Gert Peens fell just short of the line in the right corner after running through the Welsh tacklers from short range.
Pez convetred Checchinato's try via the right post, before Jones struck over another penalty. Peens hit back for the Azzurri with an enormous 50 metre plus penalty, but Jones again retaliated with another Welsh penalty for a 23 -- 13 half-time score, Andy Marinos going close to a try in the right corner after chasing a cunning diagonal grubber before the whistle, but just failing to get the score.
After finishing the first half without the same urgency as they had started it, Wales got the second half underway in suitably lightning fashion, replacement Rhys Williams cutting the Italian defence to shreds with a superb running score within the first few minutes of the restart.
It was fine counter-attack running from Craig Morgan within his own half which set up the score, Williams eventually taking a positive diagonal course from left to right past the Italian defence at pace, evading the tackle of Mauro Bergamasco for the score, Jones again converting after he had missed a long-range penalty by the narrowest of margins.
With Italy now well and truly on the rack, and struggling for possession, Scott Quinnell barged over in his own unique style for Wales'fourth try of the afternoon, taking second phase ball from a scrum near the Italian line down the left wing, Dafydd James taking the initial contact before Quinnell's run from deep at first receiver was spotted by scrum-half Howley
Jones added the extras, and it was only three minutes until the next Welsh try, Marinos touching down after a solid and workmanlike performance in midfield, latching onto Dafydd James' right wing run and earning the reward for good support play with a short pass and a ten-metre run-in for the try, converted once again by the deadly Stephen Jones for a 44-13 advantage.
Coach Steve Hansen took the opportunity to introduce, among others, Iestyn Harris and Dwayne Peel to the match, Harris coming on for Swansea's Kevin Morgan at fullback to good effect, showing a glimpse of his trademark sidestep, and Llanelli's Peel taking over and doing a solid job for the effervescent Rob Howley at scrum-half.
With Italy now jaded and dejected, the departure of right wing Pedrazzi on 68 minutes saw openside Mauro Bergamasco forced to play on the wing, although the Treviso man has played club rugby in the centres recently, so the backs was not new territory for the energetic flanker.
Indeed it was Bergamasco's presence on the right side which spawned their second try of the match with six minutes to go, a botched pass from Francesco Mazzariol confusing the Welsh drift defence, but Bergamasco hacking on for Mazzariol to touch down in the corner, Peens converting impressively from the touchline.
Referee Chris White blew the whistle soon after, on a game which lost a bit of life towards the end, but one which showed that there is still life left in the Welsh national team -- even if the cynics might say: “But it was only against Italy.”
Man of the match: Scott Quinnell
The skipper was once again the driving force between much of the good work of the Welsh pack, scoring a try of his own early in the second half from a short-range, before being replaced by Brett Sinkinson midway through the second half. The fact there were no sole standouts typified the renewed Welsh team ethic, although Craig Morgan and Rob Howley in particular had productive afternoons. For Italy, Mauro Bergamasco and Gert Peens stood out from a fairly limp team performance, but after conceding five tries, none of them were serious contenders to beat Quinnell to our vote.
Moment of the match: Rhys Williams' try
The Cardiff fullback entered the fray midway through the second half for injured centre Tom Shanklin, and gave the Welsh a timely boost in the first few minutes of the second half with a scorching counter-attack try. A long Italian punt was fielded by Craig Morgan who cut infield near halfway. From a resulting ruck, Stephen Jones popped short to Williams 40 metres out, who took a left to right diagonal course past openside Mauro Bergamasco to dive over. That moment narrowly won our vote over the time when recently-resigned Wales coach Graham Henry was shown on the stadium's big screen in the crowd. Most of the fans strangely cheered for the man who had been public enemy No.1 in Wales for the last few months, although a subdued chorus of ‘boos' could be heard from some sections. A very strange moment indeed.
Villain of the match: Carlo Checchinato
No real villains in a fairly calm match, but the Italian try-scorer got away with a stamping incident late in the match which should have earned him ten minutes in the sin-bin. Alessandro Troncon's nuisance value reared its head again, but there were no fisticuffs in a well-spirited encounter.
(Half-time: Wales 23 Italy 13)
Sin-bin: Persico (Italy, 50 mins)
The teams:
Wales: 1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Tom Shanklin, 13 Andy Marinos, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves: Iestyn Harris, Dwayne Peel, Rhys Williams, Spencer John, Brett Sinkinson, Barry Williams, Chris Wyatt
Italy: 1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Checchinato, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Ramiro Pez, 11 Roberto Pedrazzi, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves: Andrea Benatti, Andrea Lo Cicero, Matthew Phillips, Francesco Mazzariol, Federico Pucciariello, Giovanni Raineri
Unused: Matteo Mazzantini
Referee: White c.
Points Scorers
Wales
Tries: Morgan C.S. 1, Williams G.R. 1, James D.R. 1, Marinos A.W.N. 1, Quinnell L.S. 1
Conv: Jones S.M. 5
Pen K.: Jones S.M. 3
Italy
Tries: Checchinato C. 1, Mazzariol F. 1
Conv: Peens G. 1, Pez R. 1
Pen K.: Peens G. 1, Pez R. 1
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