6 NATIONS INTERNATIONAL TEST RUGBY

10.03.2012
Italy v Wales in Cardiff (6 Nations)

Venue: Millennium Stadium

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	PT
WALES	3	3	0	0	69	46	23	6
FRANCE	3	2	1	0	70	46	24	5
ENGLAND	3	2	0	1	44	40	4	4
IRELAND	3	1	1	1	50	30	30	3
SCOTLAND	3	0	0	3	36	63	-27	0
ITALY	3	0	0	3	37	91	-54	0

Preview
Wales at the top of this competition should, in theory, put Italy, at the bottom, to the sword.

Wales are with out their captain Warburton. Gethin Jenkins takes over as captain, with Wales fronting their 2009 Lions front row. They are certainly at the height of their season and one would expect a comfortable win.

The only favour going Italy’s way is the fact that Wales might just have their sights on France in a weeks time. Will that be enough of a distraction. I don’t think so. Italy are such a disjointed side with the selector still trying to find the backs to make some use of the hard-one ball the forwards get.

Last Five Encounters
26.02.2011 Wales 24-16 in Rome (6 Nations)
20.03.2010 Wales 33-10 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
14.03.2009 Wales 20-15 in Rome (6 Nations)
23.02.2008 Wales 47-8 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
10.03.2007 Italy 23-20 in Rome (6 Nations)

Italy has never defeated Wales in Cardiff. The closest they got was an 18-18 draw in 2006

Italy Last Five
25.02.2012 v Ireland L 10-42 in Dublin (6 Nations)
11.02.2012 v England L 15-19 in Rome (6 Nations)
04.02.2012 v France L 12-30 in Paris (6 Nations)
11.02.2012 v England L 15-19 in Rome (6 Nations)
02.10.2011 v Ireland L 6-36 in Dunedin (World Cup, Pool C)

Wales Last Five
25.02.2012 v England W 19-12 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
12.02.2012 v Scotland W 27-13 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
05.02.2012 v Ireland W 23-21 in Dublin (6 Nations)
03.12.2011 v Australia L 18-24 in Cardiff
21.10.2011 v Australia L 18-21 in Auckland (World Cup, Playoff 3rd-4th)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table: Wales 6th, Italy 12th
Europe Table: Wales 3rd, Italy 6th

IRB Rugby Ranking Points
Wales 82.65, Italy 73.33

Prediction
Wales far too much juice at home to win by 24 points.

Teams

Italy

15		Andrea Masi	Aironi
14		Luke McLean	Treviso
13		Gonzalo Canale	Clermont Auvergne, France
12		Alberto Sgarbi	Treviso
11		Mirco Bergamasco	Racing Metro, France
10		Kristopher Burton	Treviso
9		Fabio Semenzato	Treviso
8		Sergio Parisse (Capt.)	Stade Francais, France
7		Simone Favaro	Aironi
6		Alessandro Zanni	Treviso
5		Cornelius Van Zyl	Treviso
4		Quintin Geldenhuys	Aironi
3		Lorenzo Cittadini	Treviso
2		Leonardo Ghiraldini	Treviso
1		Andrea Lo Cicero	Racing Metro, France
16		Tommaso D'Apice	Aironi
17		Fabio Staibano	Aironi
18		Marco Bortolami	Aironi
19		Robert Barbieri	Treviso
20		Tobias Botes	Treviso
21		Tommaso Benvenuti	Treviso
22		Giulio Toniolatti	Aironi
		HEAD COACH: Jacques Brunel

Wales

15		Leigh Halfpenny	Cardiff Blues
14		Alexander Cuthbert	Cardiff Blues
13		Jonathan Davies	Llanelly Scarlets
12		James Roberts	Cardiff Blues
11		George North	Llanelly Scarlets
10		Rhys Priestland	Llanelly Scarlets
9		Michael Phillips	Bayonne, France
8		Tobias Faletau	Newport Gwent Dragons
7		Justin Tipuric	Neath Swansea Ospreys
6		Daniel Lydiate	Newport Gwent Dragons
5		Ian Evans	Neath Swansea Ospreys
4		Alyn-Wyn Jones	Neath Swansea Ospreys
3		Adam Jones	Neath Swansea Ospreys
2		Huw Bennett	Neath Swansea Ospreys
1		Gethin Jenkins (Capt.)	Cardiff Blues
16		Kenneth Owens	Llanelly Scarlets
17		Paul James	Neath Swansea Ospreys
18		Luke Charteris	Newport Gwent Dragons
19		Ryan Jones	Neath Swansea Ospreys
20		Lloyd Williams	Cardiff Blues
21		James Hook	Perpignan, France
22		Scott Williams	Llanelly Scarlets
		COACH: Warren Gatland