If Northampton want George North to play for them again, they should arrange a fixture against Italy. The Lions wing, who was accused by the Saints the previous week of an unwillingness to appear against Sale, scored two tries as Wales climbed to second in the table to take his total against the Azzurri to eight in eight starts.
North, who was making his first full appearance for his country since the end of last year’s Six Nations, was denied a hat-trick two minutes from the end because of an earlier knock-on and set up his side’s third try, scored by Cory Hill, when his surge into midfield from a scrum created the space for the second row to exploit.
Owen Watkin swaggers into Warren Gatland’s free-running Wales reboot
North’s international career has meandered in recent seasons, partly through injuries but also because he tended to stay on his wing in a side that played with little width. That has changed and here Wales, making 10 changes from the side that lost to Ireland to finish their chance of winning the title, often resembled a sevens team, throwing the ball around with skilled abandon. They scored five tries and could easily have doubled that number.
For the third home match in a row, Wales were 14 points up in the opening minutes, profiting from mistakes by Italy who dominated the opening period in terms of territory and possession before drifting into their familiar routine of all-out defence. The wooden spoon is theirs for the fourth season in the last five and for all the trickery of Matteo Minozzi at full-back and the frantic efforts of Sergio Parisse to reverse the flow of time, their basic mistakes made them fodder for a team who are now tuned to attack from everywhere.
Wales’s first try, after three minutes, came after Minozzi’s slip had allowed James Davies, making his debut at open-side flanker, to win a turnover and a penalty. Wales kicked to touch and took the play through three phases before moving the ball left where Hadleigh Parkes stepped against the flow of the drift defence to leave Tomasso Castello tackling Parisse and knocking himself out.
Within two minutes, Italy were under their posts for another conversion. They won the ball from the restart, but Maxime Mbanda’s hopeful pass in Wales’s 22 was collected by Owen Watkin, who covered 60 metres before finding North outside him. Although Italy quickly responded through Minozzi, who scored on the left wing after Marcello Violi held the defence, they were unable to make anything of an abundant supply of penalties that allowed them to enjoy 65% of the possession and territory in the opening period.
Wales led 17-7 at the interval, Gareth Anscombe punishing another mistake by Italy when Jayden Hayward compounded a knock-on by playing the ball in an offside position, but started the second-half with 14 men. Liam Williams was in the sin-bin after hitting Minozzi in the neck with a shoulder as he tried to dispossess his opposite number: Italy may have held the numerical advantage, but it was the home side who scored next.
The second half was two minutes old when Minozzi’s clearance kick from his in-goal area was charged down by Gareth Davies. Hill scored from the resulting scrum and even when Wales went down to 13 men for two minutes, when Gareth Davies saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on, they looked the more likely to score, with the Azzurri not looking after their possession.
Wales should have scored the try of the match after another turnover, Anscombe’s chip gathered by James Davies who found Taulupe Faletau in support. The No 8 covered 25 metres before passing in contact to Justin Tipuric in all backrow foray that ended when the wing Steff Evans lost control of the ball 10 metres out.
The bonus point was secured 14 minutes from the end when North scored from a scrum after Parkes was denied a try despite appearing to ground the ball. Tipuric made it five after Parkes’s cleverly lobbed pass but Italy, whose shortcomings do not include a lack of application, had the last word through the wing Mattia Bellini.
It was Italy’s 16th successive defeat in the tournament and as long as they continue to concede cheaply and blow prime opportunities the sequence will continue. “We will get there,” said their head coach, Conor O’Shea, who pointed to the emergence of Minozzi, Sebastian Negri and Violi as evidence of a production system that has had a long overdue service.
His problem is that the likes of Wales are improving at a faster rate and they will finish second if they beat France on Saturday and England do not go berserk against Ireland. Warren Gatland’s one concern was Williams’s needless yellow card, which on another day could have proved costly, and the full-back did not return when his time was up, a luxury option O’Shea dreams of.
Ireland leave faltering England in their wake with Six Nations title | Andy Bull