The home side got off to a flying start, racing into an 8-0 lead after ten minutes.thanks to a Stephen Jones penalty and a Mark Jones try. But Italy were displaying the kind of mettle that has seen them push Ireland, England and France close in this season’s championship, and they battled back with a try from Ezio Galon just five minutes later.
But a stunning interception try by winger Pablo Canavosio with just minutes left in the first half saw Italy go into the break level pegging with Wales at 15-15. The home side, that lost scrum-half Dwayne Peel early on with a shoulder injury could not add to their two first half tries as the scoring in the second period was limited to a penalty a piece to make the final score 18-18.
Scoring Sequence
WAL Pen: Stephen Jones (59 mins)
ITA Pen: Ramiro Pez (46 mins)
ITA Con: Ramiro Pez (40 mins)
ITA Try: Pablo Canavosio (38 mins)
ITA Pen: Ramiro Pez (31 mins)
WAL Con: Stephen Jones (29 mins)
WAL Try: Stephen Jones (28 mins)
ITA Try: E Galon (14 mins)
WAL Try: Mark Jones (9 mins)
WAL Pen: Stephen Jones (4 mins)
Lineups
Wales:
L Byrne (Scarlets)
M Jones (Scarlets)
H Luscombe (Dragons)
M Watkins (Scarlets)
S Williams (Ospreys)
S Jones (Clermont Auvergne)
D Peel (Scarlets)
D Jones (Ospreys)
R Thomas (Blues)
A Jones (Ospreys)
I Gough (Dragons)
R Sidoli (Blues)
C Charvis (Newcastle)
M Williams (Blues)
M Owen (Dragons, capt)
Replacements:
M Davies (Gloucester)
G Jenkins (Blues)
J Thomas (Ospreys)
A Popham (Scarlets)
M Phillips (Blues)
N Robinson (Blues)
G Henson (Ospreys)
Italy:
E Galon (Overmach Parma)
P Canavosio (Calvisano)
G Canale (Clermont Auvergne)
Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais)
L Nitoglia (Calvisano)
R Pez (Perpignan)
P Griffen (Calvisano)
S Perugini (Calvisano)
C Festuccia (Gran Parma)
C Nieto (Viadana)
S Dellape (Agen)
M Bortolami (Narbonne, capt)
S Parisse (Stade Francais)
M Zaffiri (Calvisano)
J Sole (Viadana)
Replacements:
A Lo Cicero (L’Aquila)
F Ongaro (Treviso)
M Castrogiovanni (Calvisano)
C Del Fava (Bourgoin)
A Zanni (Calvisano)
S Picone (Treviso)
C Stoica (Montpellier)
Referee: Joel Jutge (France)
Touch Judges:
Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Robert Dickson (Scotland)
TV: Eric Darriere (France)
