Wales complete part three

Wales remained on course for a Six Nations Grand Slam on Saturday, with an ultimately convincing 47-8 win over Italy in Cardiff.

Having stuttered in the first half and gone into the changing room only 13-8 ahead despite dominating possession and territory, the introduction of Mike Phillips early in the second half heralded a complete change in course for the Welsh, with both backs and forwards clicking smoothly into gear.

Wow!  This, finally, was the real deal.  After a first half in which the line-out flickered, the discipline faltered, and the imagination paled, Wales came out in the second half and showed us just how far they have come under Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards' tutelage.

Now their only task left is to show it for eighty minutes.  Lots of Grand Slam talk is surely in the offing, but they are yet to face the two strongest teams in this Six Nations, and a first-half display like the one delivered today will not do.

Neither will one like the second half for Italy.  Twice in this tournament, they have been half unlucky, half at fault for not taking advantage of faltering opposition.  Today, they simply could not take the pace.  Perhaps the last two matches have taken their toll on morale and energy, but this was a clear step down in intensity from the last two displays.

There are bright spots.  Andrea Marcato was efficient at full-back, and showed several game-breaking moments.  When he came on, Paolo Buso showed a lot of promise on his debut.  Now these talents have to be quickly harnessed and nursed, as Italy still offer far too little in attack.

It started solidly enough for Wales, with the ball-carriers retaining enough possession to grind out two early penalties for Stephen Jones to slot for a 6-0 lead, but then it began to unravel.

Italy scored.

It was that sudden.  Andrea Marcato's clever kick to the corner ought to have yielded a standard issue catch-maul-clear from the Welsh, but instead, Matthew Rees' throw flew over the outstretched arms of Martyn Williams and into Martin Castrogiovanni's hands.  Dwayne Peel was flattened by the big prop as he rolled to the line, and the Scarlets scrum-half was not quite the same after.  More on that later.  Marcato missed the conversion, and Wales' lead was cut to 6-5.

Italy's defence was well-briefed on the preferred Welsh flat attacking structure, and early attempts by the Welsh to find the angles were comprehensively smothered.  As a result, a fair bit of ball was kicked.  It was reasonably effective, but it wasn't pretty and of course, it handed ball to the Azzurri that the Welsh would rather not have done.

Italy should have taken the lead on one of the counter-attacking chances, when Marcato and Ezio Galon combined magnificently on a switch to send Mirco Bergamasco through.  All Gonzalo Canale had to do was take the pass, but he inexplicably spilled it.

Instead, Wales were next to score.  Shane Williams broke well down the left, finally finding his jink, and Rees took the ball to within five metres.  Out the ball came right, but the retreating Masi was struck by the pass from Shanklin.  Williams took the tap penalty quickly as Italy's defence struggled to organise, and the ball went wide to Lee Byrne for the first of his two tries.  Stephen Jones made it 13-5 with the conversion.

But still Wales were not finding their strut.  The penalties mounted against the Welsh as frustration seeped in -- going off feet here, a late tackle there ... it all mounted up.  Masi, Marcato, and Mirco Bergamasco engineered another dangerous break that came to nothing.  On the stroke of half time, Marcato converted a penalty to make it 13-8 at the break.

Back to Peel.  Having been thumped by Castrogiovanni, many of his subsequent passes were distinctly sub-standard, often flying around Stephen Jones' boot-laces.  He re-appeared for the second half, took another heavy tackle, and then was replaced by Mike Phillips.  It transpired that Peel had already been complaining of blurred vision.  Given what happened after the change, it surely should have been made earlier.

Seconds before Phillips' entrance, Wales went 20-8 ahead when Tom Shanklin, winning his 50th cap, was gifted an intercept try by Masi, who is still very much the novice at fly-half.

Phillips' first act was to burst onto Jones' pass and break clear, but he wasted the gilt-edged opportunity when he ignored Mark Jones' support for too long and tried to round Marcato himself.  Still, suddenly the service and threat from the base of the scrum had increased, and it was one attacking option too many for the Azzurri defence to cope with.

Shanklin's try had been a body blow for the Italians and they conceded two more penalties in quick succession, both of which Jones converted, as Wales pulled clear at 26-8.

To make matters worse for the Azzurri, Mirco Bergamasco was sin-binned for the second one after referee Pearson lost patience with Italy's constant infringing.

Wales notched up 10 points in his absence.  Stephen Jones burst into a gap and delivered a perfectly-delayed pass for Shane Williams to scamper down the right touchline and score his 38th Test try for Wales.

Byrne capped a man-of-the-match performance with his second try.  He burst through Canale's attempted tackle and sprinted home from inside his own half.  Hook, on for Stephen Jones, slotted the conversion.

Wales surged forward in waves.  Sonny Parker, Henson's replacement, sent Shane Williams away and the diminutive winger danced around a handful of Italian defenders to score his 39th Test try.

Italy were out on their feet, and Wales ... well, it was shades of 2005.  But now they have to do it against Ireland and France, a rather different task.

Man of the match:  Many of the Welsh were excellent.  Shane Williams dazzled, Martyn Williams ruled the roost in the loose, and Matthew Rees was a sterling performer.  But Lee Byrne, with two excellent tries and utter competence at full-back, takes the award this time.

Moment of the match:  Plenty to choose from, but being sentimental fools, we'll go for Tom Shanklin's intercept try, a perfect way to celebrate his 50th cap of a great career.

Villain of the match:  Nothing really.  Perhaps a silly late tackle by Ian Gough on Mirco Bergamasco, but the Italian centre was so soccerly as he went down that the two shared the villainy spoils in that moment.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Byrne 2, Shanklin, Shane Williams 2
Cons:  Stephen Jones 3, Hook 2
Pens:  Stephen Jones 4

For Italy:
Try:  Castrogiovanni
Pen:  Marcato

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins . 
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Deiniol Jones, 19 Gareth Delve (Gloucester), 20 Mike Phillips, 21 James Hook, 22 Sonny Parker.

Italy:  15 Andrea Marcato, 14 Alberto Sgarbi, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ezio Galon, 10 Andrea Masi, 9 Simon Picone, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellapé, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Pietro Travagli, 21 Paolo Buso, 22 Enrico Patrizio.

Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Rob Debney (England)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (Scotland)