Back row Botham states that Wales have to go out ‘all guns blazing’ against Italy 

Back row James Botham has admitted that his side need to start the match more aggressively against the Azzurri’s. It could lead to a second successive Wooden Spoon if they don’t, as in the coming weeks they face Ireland, Scotland and England.   

Wales have not won a Six Nations game since their last trip to the Stadio Olimpico in 2023 and are unbeaten in the Eternal City since 2007. However, it’s an entirely different Welsh side heading to Rome on Saturday afternoon after last Friday’s demoralising 43-0 defeat to France. It’s now 13 consecutive defeats for Warren Gatland’s side and if Wales pick up a 14th loss in a row, it could see them drop below Georgia after the weekend’s action.  

Wales currently sit in 11th place underneath both Fiji and Italy in the World Rankings. Richard Cockerill’s Georgian host Netherlands around the same time on Saturday afternoon and it could see Wales plummet even further down the rankings if they lose to Italy.

“We need to get the win now and set ourselves up for the rest of the Six Nations and see if we can finish in a better position than we did last year,” said Botham.

“Every game is big, but obviously everyone keeps referring back to this losing streak and everything like that.

“We gotta come out all guns blazing, first twenty (minutes), and put our game on them and show them what we can do.”

It’s not the brightest of pictures for Warren Gatland who since returning to Wales has only won six Test matches out of 25 and hasn’t won a Six Nations game since 2023.

Italy come into the encounter on the back of a 31-19 defeat against Scotland at Murrayfield. However, in their last three meetings in the Six Nations they have won twice against Wales, but haven’t done so on home soil in nearly two decades.

On the Azzurri and what they propose, Botham said: “They are all very good aren’t they, so they are going to be very passionate about it and it’s going to be a good battle between the back row’s and that’s sometimes where games are won. 

“We go back in with the same sort of game plan, obviously slightly different as it’s a different team so things will tweak and then we gotta execute it and hopefully those one-percenters go our way,” Botham added.