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The Roar

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Wales trounce Italy in Six Nations opener

Sam Warburton will be essential for the Lions. (AP Photo/Ettore Ferrari, Ansa)
5th February, 2017
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Wales overcame a sluggish start for a 33-7 win over Italy in a rainy Six Nations match on Sunday, narrowly missing out on a bonus point.

Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams and George North scored tries after the hour mark and Leigh Halfpenny kicked for 18 points as the visitors overturned a 7-3 halftime deficit to match England and Scotland with wins on the tournament’s opening weekend.

Edoardo Gori scored a first-half try and Italy ruled the scrum early on but, as has often been the case, the Azzurri appeared to tire as the match wore on and committed a series of errors to let Wales take control.

Williams almost got a fourth try – and the bonus point – but lost the ball as he went over the line in the final minute.

New tournament rules introduced for this season award winners an extra point if they score four tries.

The match turned when Andrea Lovotti was sent to the sin bin for Italy’s second scrum penalty in quick succession midway through the second half.

Davies slid over the line as Wales rapidly spun the ball around and Williams ran in untouched six minutes later.

Two minutes from the end, North ran in all the way from his own half as Wales finally asserted total control.

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It was Wales’ 11th straight win over Italy, who picked up the wooden spoon last season with its sixth whitewash since joining the competition in 2000.

New Italy coach Conor O’Shea was making his tournament debut with the Azzurri after guiding his men to a historic win over South Africa in November and the Stadio Olimpico crowd was fired up after Italian president Sergio Mattarella greeted the players on the pitch before kick-off.

However, Italy quickly dropped to the bottom of the standings with zero points. France and Ireland had each picked up one bonus point after losing by seven points or fewer.

It was a tale of two halves as Italy took advantage of a failed try attempt by Wales and quickly charged down to the other end with a try from Gori near the half-hour mark.

A few minutes after Sergio Parisse stormed through the Wales defence, only to be stopped just short of the try line, the Italy captain picked up the ball off the back of the scrum and then a forward push saw Gori across.

Carlo Canna made the conversion to give the Azzurri a 7-0 lead.

However, Halfpenny recovered from an early miss and made four straight penalties to put Wales ahead.

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Wales hosts defending champion England and Italy welcomes Ireland to the Stadio Olimpico next weekend.

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