Italy more than made a game of it for the first half before Wales let loose, tries from Rhys Carre, Will Jones and Ben Jones helping their side to build on Friday’s opening day, 31-30 victory over Scotland, in Swansea.
Wales found the going tough in the first half, much as the Under 20s had in their Six Nations Gram Slam game against the Azzurri in Colwyn Bay earlier this month. They were combative all around the park and their scrum more than held its own.
Antonio Rizzi kicked two penalties for the Italians with his second coming after Callum Carson had been yellow carded.
Still, with passion and spirit aplenty and the a vocal crowd at the Ystrad Mynach Centre for Sporting Excellence behind them, Wales, trailing 6-0 at the break, came up trumps in a much improved second half.
First, replacement prop Carre, who led the side against Scotland on Good Friday, made his way to the line and over, for Ben Jones to convert and Jones was on hand to add the extras when tonight’s captain Will Jones was driven over the whitewash to put Wales further in front.
Italy pegged back the lead with a third penalty of the night, but Wales had the final say with a solo try from Ben Jones, kicking through loose ball inside his own half and chasing all the way to the line. The score was improved by centre Ben Thomas in the closing moments to make sure Wales go into their final game of the Series, against England at St Helens on April 6 (7.30pm), with an unblemished record.
Wales head coach Geraint Lewis said, “It’s good to get another win. A lot of the boys got their first taste of international rugby this evening, and the Italians never make it easy for you, they’re a very physical and enthusiastic side. The first half conditions were difficult with the rain and win, the Italians had a lot of possession and territory but the boys showed lots of maturity to come through in the second half, we can take a lot going forward from that.”
With a slightly older group of boys having lost 26-27 to England before the start of the Series, this group of players will be looking to put that right next Wednesday evening.
“England is going to be very difficult”, added Lewis. “They haven’t lost many boys from the side we faced a few weeks ago so we’re under no illusions about the size of the task. We know we need to get better but we can take a lot out of the first two games, we know we can improve further from here.
“It’s great to have some support from your friends, family and neutral support too, hopefully we’ll get a good crowd at St Helens next Wednesday evening to end the Series.”
Wales U18 scorers:
Tries: R Carre, W Jones, B Jones
Cons: B Jones (2), B Thomas
Italy U18 scorers:
Pens: A Rizzi (3)
