Six Nations, Italrugby does not end on a high note

There could not have been a worse way to end an excellent Six Nations by the Italian national rugby team. After two victories and two defeats, on the fifth and final day of the tournament came the third defeat and the heaviest. If not in terms of the score (31-17), then because of how it came about and because it came against a team, Wales, who were supposed to be the most in reach, having just suffered 15 consecutive defeats in the tournament. It must be acknowledged that nothing can be taken for granted in rugby, as witnessed by Italia itself, which beat England for the first time in its history a week ago, not to mention Scotland, which started the 2026 edition losing to the Azzurri and then won against Wales, England and France. However, Italia, after the victories on the first and fourth day and the match with Ireland, which can be considered a non-win, was called upon to confirm itself, to a test of maturity. It did not come. In fact, almost nothing worked at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, especially in the first 40 minutes, one-way in favour of the hosts. After starting the second half as the first had ended, the Azzurri tried to get back into the game but without success, with even two tries for Italia that the Tmo 'rejected'. To come back from a 31-nil deficit would not have been easy for anyone, and for an under-performing Italia it was impossible.

"We were inconsistent in the lineout and in the scrum, there were many things that didn't work. We failed to capitalise on some of the chances we had," acknowledged captain Michele Lamaro, paying "congratulations to Wales, who played a great game. The disappointment, however, is strong: "We had a great chance but we were erratic at different stages of the game. Today, unfortunately, we didn't manage to deliver what we wanted. It hurts and it's right that it hurts. Regarding the match, Lamaro pointed out that "the first goal of the second half was the turning point in the match, it was the one that hurt us the most. It looked like they wanted the win more and that made the difference'. What stings the most is that "the last game is always the one that leaves you with the memory of the tournament. Today, the tournament was a bit tarnished. The result with England remains, no one will ever take that away from us, but today we had to give a performance that would have ended on a high note, but we didn't do it. On the same wavelength Federico Ruzza: "The first half was very difficult. We didn't manage to put them under pressure. We didn't do what we had prepared. The second half went a little better, but you can't afford to concede 21 points in 40 minutes. They played better, they played the game they had to play, we have to recognise that."

"Today was tough physically. We missed some tackles that we don't usually miss," coach Gonzalo Quesada pointed out to the microphones of Sky. "In the first half we had two clear opportunities at the start but we stayed on zero-zero, they instead had three chances and we went 21-nil up," Quesada continued in the press conference, giving "credit to Wales: they put everything they had and deserved the win. They played with much more intensity. It must be acknowledged that Italia's game today "was not a good one but we never gave up and in the end we had the opportunity to come back" into the game. However, the fact that, when they returned to the field after the break, the first points were still scored by the Welsh 'marked the game'. This performance, however, even if it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, cannot completely spoil the final balance: 'It was a good Six Nations but there is still a lot to work on. It's not like last week we were the kings of the world and today we are the worst. This Six Nations is part of our journey. The victories with Scotland and England were good, with Ireland a draw would have been fairer but Tmo was incompetent," remarked the Azzurri coach.