For most of this year's Six Nations, there has been an ongoing discussion about Italy's place in the championship. The Italians had not won a game since 2015, with the gap between themselves and the other five nations seemingly only widening as the years went on.
This afternoon's result puts a slightly different spin on that conversation.
Italy ran out deserving 22-21 winners over Wales in Cardiff this afternoon. While the nature of the late victory was a dramatic one, few could argue that it wasn't a fair result.
INCREDIBLE!!
Italy score a sensational try in the final moments to secure their first win since 2015 🙌#GuinnessSixNations #WALvITA pic.twitter.com/lQizHDAypQ— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 19, 2022
Ange Capuozzo was the architect of the winning try, with his run from deep a highlight of what was an incredible performance from the 22-year old.
Having only made his debut against Scotland last week, he already looks like a potential star. That is an opinion shared by Michele Lamaro.
Speaking after the game, the Italy captain was perhaps a bit enthusiastic when describing the talents of the team's young fullback.
An emotional Michele Lamaro speaks about Italy's landmark victory v Wales #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/tAcbYL6SMN
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 19, 2022
Italian captain Michele Lamaro just dropped the F bomb in his post match interview on @RTEsport. #WALvITA #SixNations2022 #Rugby @Federugby 🇮🇹 🏉 pic.twitter.com/akWDljwsEt
— Paul O’Kane (@pmokane) March 19, 2022
This was Italy's first win in the championship in over seven years. In fact, they hadn't earned as much as a losing bonus in four years prior to this fixture.
The victory will not be enough to lift them off the bottom of this year's table, although it will give them a massive boost moving forward.
As for Wales, this was a bad end to what has been an incredibly poor tournament. Having won last year's event, they will finish the 2022 edition with only one win to their name. That is sure to pile the pressure on head coach Wayne Pivac, although injuries were a factor at times.
They will now attempt to regroup ahead of their summer tour to South Africa, something that looks like a rather daunting task considering their recent form.
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