Six Nationsinexperienced side appeared to crumble under the pressure created by both the occasion and their incisive opponents, committing basic mistakes across the park.
This was also a tragic way for George North’s illustrious international career to end after the Welshman announced on Wednesday he would earn his 121st and last cap in Cardiff. Italy repeatedly broke the gain line on first phase and did again here, slicing through the sloppy Welsh to the horror of 70,000 fans inside the stadium.Simple handling errors and poor passing meant home attacks broke down time and again in the first half, with even Nick Tompkins, one of Wales’ best players at the World Cup, cheaply knocking on to kill a promising move.
And they could have gone down to 14 men on the hour mark after Grady clashed heads with Pani, but this was deemed to be accidental by the TMO.