On the last weekend of the Women’s Six Nations, with a record crowd of 10,592 at the Principality Stadium, tries from Carys Phillips, Gwenllian Pyrs, and Sislia Tuipulotu accompanied by the boot of both Kiera Bevan and Lleucu George saw Wales win their first game of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations.
Wales nearly broke the deadlock just after the six-minute mark as the visitors were penalised at the scrum; however, after a few phases, the ball was knocked on metres from the line.
Georgia Evans was penalised for not rolling away and after numerous infringements in the host’s 22, the visitors had back-to-back penalties and could not convert them into points as referee Aimee Barrett-Theron awarded the hosts a penalty for crossing at the lineout.
On the 15-minute mark, Alisha Butchers took the ball at the front of the lineout and offloaded to Carys Phillips, who powered her way over to score on her 75th appearance and score the host’s first try of the afternoon to break the deadlock.
After the restart, the visitors responded immediately as outside-centre Alysa D’inca’ turned the ball over in the tackle and offloaded to Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi to cross over in the corner. Beatrice Rigoni added the extras and put the visitors in front.
Before halftime, Wales were penalised for not rolling away, and Rigoni added the three and extended the visitors’ lead further.
HT: Wales 5-10 Italy
Wales started the second half the better, and Gwenllian Pyrs was the next to cross over after continuous pressure on the visitor’s defence. Scrum-half Keira Bevan added the extras and put the hosts back in front for the first time since the 15-minute mark.
Ill-discipline cost the visitors, as Bevan added another three points and extended the host’s lead further. Moments later, replacement Francesca Granzotto crossed over after some excellent handling skills within the backline. Rigoni could not add the extras, which meant proceedings were level going into the final quarter.
With ten minutes left, flyhalf Emma Stevanin crossed over and put the visitors back in front for the first time since the 43-minute mark.
With the clock nearly in the red, Sisilia Tuipulotu powered her way over for the host’s third try of the afternoon. It then went from bad to worse for the visitors as try scorer Stevanin was shown a yellow card after a dangerous tackle and after regathering at the lineout Wales kicked the ball dead to record a well deserved win.
FT: Wales 22-20 Italy
Wales XV: 15. Jenny Hesketh, 14. Lisa Neumann, 13. Hannah Jones ©, 12. Hannah Bluck, 11. Carys Cox, 10. Lleucu George, 9. Keira Bevan, 1. Gwenllian Pyrs, 2. Carys Phillips, 3. Sisilia Tuipulotou, 4. Natalia John, 5. Abbie Fleming, 6. Alisha Butchers, 7. Alex Callender, 8. Georgia Evans
Replacements: 16. Kelsey Jones, 17. Abbey Constable, 18. Donna Rose, 19. Kate Williams, 20. Gwennan Hopkins, 21. Sian Jones, 22. Niamh Terry, 23. Nel Metcalfe
Italy XV: 15. Beatrice Capomaggi, 14. Aura Muzzo, 13. Alyssa D’inca, 12. Beatrice Rigoni 11. Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, 10. Emma Stevanin, 9. Sofia Stefan, 1. Silvia Turani, 2. Vittoria Vechinni, 3. Sara Seye, 4. Sara Tounesi, 5. Giordanna Duca, 6. Ilaria Arrighetti, 7. Francesca Sgorbini, 8. Elisa Giordano ©
Replacements: 16. Laura Gurioli, 17. Gaia Maris, 18. Lucia Gai, 19. Valeria Fedrighi, 20. Isabella Locatelli, 21. Beatrice Veronese, 22. Veronica Madia, 23. Francesca Granzotto
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Assistant Referee 1: Sara Cox
Assistant Referee 2: Chelsea Gillespie
TMO: Rachel Horton
Player of the Match: Gwenllian Pyrs
Attendance: 10,592
Words By Harry Tovey
HTSPORTSNEWS 