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3 hours ago
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Officials for the match today
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referee 1: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referee 2: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Warren Gatland is playing down the cataclysmic, seismic and/or devastating importance of this match.
How are the nerves, Wales fans? Of what about the level of confidence in Italian ranks? Interested people of other nations may also have views and all of them can be sent to me via email or you could give me a shout on Bluesky if that’s a thing you do now.
Teams
Gonzalo Quesada makes only one change to the starting line-up from last week, Niccolo Cannone replacing Dino Lamb in the second row.
Some very late injury news for Wales with Liam Williams and Daf Jenkins both withdrawn within an hour of kick off. Blair Murray moves to fullback and Freddie Williams to lock, which will bring Josh Hathaway and Teddy Williams onto the bench
In more planned news, an injury to Owen Watkin means a change at centre for Wales with young Scarlet Eddie James the man coming in. In the forwards, Warren Gatland can take some comfort in the return of 105-cap Taulupe Faletau to the Number 8 shirt.
Italy: Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro (capt), Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Luca Rizzoli, Marco Riccioni, Dino Lamb, Manuel Zuliani, Ross Vintcent, Alessandro Garbisi, Jacopo Trulla.
Wales: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Nick Tompkins, Eddie James, Josh Adams; Ben Thomas, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Evan Lloyd, Henry Thomas; Will Rowlands, Freddie Thomas; James Botham, Jac Morgan (capt), Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Aaron Wainwright, Rhodri Williams, Dan Edwards, Josh Hathaway.
Preamble
Dylan Thomas, the finest word mitherer ever produced by Wales, once wrote, “Isn’t life a terrible thing, thank God?”. The nation’s rugby fans have no need to endlessly explore their tortured souls like a poet to know what he means. However, like Thomas’s character Polly Garter who spoke those words, there can be a unifying, inspiring purpose and strange pride to be harvested from what others judge of your pitiful state. This is what Warren Gatland and his team must find today as they walk out in Rome to what is clearly their best chance to end the very-unlucky-for-them thirteen game run of defeats.
Italy will be similarly motivated to defibrillate some life into their tournament after a spluttering display in the loss to Scotland. They are in front of a home crowd with memories of wins over the men in red in two of their last three meetings. Expectations will rightly be running high for a settled squad against a Wales team at perhaps their lowest ebb since the game turned professional in the mid 1990s.
Everything regarding form and levels of fandom hope points to a victory for the Azzurri, but the visitors today will recall that the two recent defeats were of the tiniest margin, and also puzzlingly not in Rome but in Cardiff. It feels like crumbs of comfort, probably because it is.
One team’s life will be remain a terrible thing soon enough, find out which one with me here.
