North double gets much-changed Wales back to winning ways
George North scored two tries as a much-changed Wales side returned to winning ways with a 38-14 bonus-point victory over Italy at the Principality Stadium to move up to second in the Six Nations standings on Sunday.
Warren Gatland made 10 alterations for the visit of winless Italy after back-to-back defeats to England and champions Ireland, and North’s display helped ensure Wales avoided a third straight loss – which would have been the first time they had suffered that fate in the competition since 2006.
Hadleigh Parkes, one of the five players to retain their place after the 37-27 reverse in Dublin, and North capitalised on a pair of mistakes from Italy, who were otherwise impressive in the opening period, to give the hosts a 14-0 lead
Matteo Minozzi tricked his way through on the left wing to reduce the deficit, but Conor O’Shea’s side failed to make further inroads despite possessing a man advantage for close to 20 second-half minutes following yellow cards for Liam Williams and Gareth Davies.
Cory Hill crossed while Wales, captained by Taulupe Faletau in his first appearance since December, were reduced to 14 men, before North and Justin Tipuric secured a victory that puts them in pole position to finish as runners-up.
There was a late consolation for Italy when Mattia Bellini got their second try with four minutes left, but a 16th successive Six Nations defeat puts them one away from matching France’s record for consecutive losses.
.@George_North’s try #️⃣1️⃣6️⃣ in this competition puts him joint-third in tries scored for his country in Rugby’s Greatest Championship. #WALvITA pic.twitter.com/zU1di2tLPz
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) March 11, 2018
It took just four minutes for Wales to get off the mark as Parkes bounced off a poor tackle from Tommaso Castello, who consequently went off for a head injury assessment, to dot down behind the posts.
Gatland’s side made it two in quick succession when Owen Watkin intercepted a blind pass from Maxime Mbanda – who was soon replaced by Giovanni Licata – inside his own half and surged away to set up North.
However, Italy, who looked composed in possession despite their early errors, hit back in the 10th minute when Minozzi showed delightful footwork to step around Williams and stretch beyond Steff Evans in the corner.
Grande meta di Minozzi!
Segui la partita in diretta sul nostro Matchcentre – https://t.co/Eax65G0NRV #NatWest6Nations #WALvITAhttps://t.co/Mp4k31PTiE
— Guinness Sei Nazioni (@SeiNazioniRugby) March 11, 2018
The tempo inevitably slowed and Davies had a score ruled out for latching onto Evans’ chip from an offside position, before a break in play following Faletau’s huge hit on Tommaso Allan.
Gareth Anscombe split the posts from the tee after Allan sent a penalty wide, but Williams was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Minozzi on the stroke of half-time.
Hill powered over from close range despite Wales’ numerical disadvantage in the 43rd minute, and the hosts were temporarily reduced to 13 when Davies saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on.
Leigh Halfpenny came on at full-back in place of Williams and, after Wales restored to their full complement amid wholesale replacements, North dived across the whitewash from Rhys Patchell’s offload with 14 minutes remaining.
Tipuric finished from Parkes’ looping pass in a late flourish from the hosts, but it was Italy who had the final say four minutes from time when they spread the play to Bellini to score in the left corner.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments