By David Parsons
First the good news – Wales are chasing a ninth consecutive win in Rome and Italy have only once made it back-to-back home wins in the Six Nations.
Then comes the bad news.
Italy will only surrender 10th place to Wales in the World Rankings if they lose by more than 15 points and if Wales lose and Georgia beat Netherlands in the Rugby Europe Men’s Championship, then Wales could drop to a new all-time low of 12th.
The last international win by Wales was actually against the Georgians at the last World Cup in France. That was on 7 October 2023.
The unwanted facts and figures keep piling up for Warren Gatland’s side and defeat in the ‘Eternal City’ could be the stat that breaks the camel’s back.
The resort of Nice may have been a sanctuary for the players and coaches this week in the build up to Round 2 of the Six Nations, but there will be no place for anyone to hide if things continue to go horribly wrong at Stadio Olimpico.
Brynmor Williams believes it’s do or die for Warren Gatland when Wales face Italy in Rome on Saturday…
Do you agree with the former Wales scrum-half? #BBCRugby #SixNations pic.twitter.com/asoo7v5k3C
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) February 7, 2025
Despite the Italians losing 31-19 to Scotland in Edinburgh last weekend, their performance offered more hope in defeat than Wales’ 43-0 loss in Paris.
That was a seventh successive Six Nations defeat and an eighth in a row would equal the worst sequence of 1994-96.
The current run of 13 successive international defeats is already a record and the next landmark could be Scotland’s four year, 17-match losing streak in the Fifties.
They say there are lies, damned lies and statistics, but Wales’ current figures add up to just how far the national game has fallen.
You have to go back to 2007 for the last time Wales lost in Rome and ‘Captain Fantastic’ Jac Morgan is ready to put his body on the line once more for the national cause. He was simply immense in difficult circumstances against France.
“It’s always important to try to do the best you can for the team. It has been a good week for us in Nice and we’ve prepped well,” said Morgan,
“Morale is good and we’ve spoken about what we need to do at the weekend and had a good review. We’ve created a good atmosphere and we know how important it is to stick together.
“There is a good leadership group within the squad and we’ve done things this week to get everyone close. We’ll go in with our game plan, try to be the best version of ourselves, and a win would be great for us.
“It’s an important game but every game at Test level is important. We’ve targeted a couple of areas and we know Italy are a very physical and tough team.
“They also have a lot of good backs and they like to play. We need to be a bit smarter in some areas of our game management, and we need to ensure we attack in the right areas.”
Wales captain Jac Morgan says the team know how important it is to “stick together” ahead of a HUGE clash with Italy this weekend
#BBCRugby #ITAvWAL #SixNations pic.twitter.com/zOn4eOAU8k
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) February 7, 2025
The Azzurri broke a run of 26 home defeats in the championship in their last outing – a Round 4 win over the Scots last year – and will come into the game as firm favourites with the bookies.
Not that Gatland is concerned about the bookies’ ranking of either team, nor the fact some pundits are saying it is the most important game in Welsh rugby in the past 20 years.
A good sound bite perhaps, but is this really bigger than Grand Slam shoot-outs or World Cup semi-finals?
“We definitely haven’t spoken about who might be favourites. Perhaps in the past the Italians may have liked the underdogs tag because it’s been easy for them to motivate themselves,” said Gatland.
“I didn’t even know they were favourites, it’s just a game of rugby. I don’t think we look at who are favourites and who are not favourites.
“It’s an important game for us but it’s definitely not the biggest game in Wales in the last 20 years. Just getting the monkey off your back, growing some confidence and allowing the players to put their shoulders back and stand a bit taller – that’s the important thing.
“I know how hard they’re working and trying – they’re desperate to get that ‘W’. We’ve been in some close games but unfortunately we haven’t been able to get over the line.
“It’s an important game for us, but we’re well aware we’ve got some other tough games to come in this competition. We’re desperate to get a win, that’s the most important thing.”
