Key events
Preamble
There’s a famous Italian phrase La Dolce Vita, which I believe translates directly to “we beat England, have some of that!”. This is the energy Gonzalo Quesada’s men bring to Cardiff today as they seek their first ever three-win Six Nations tournament. Their final position in the table is to be determined by results elsewhere today, but as a way marker for their development this is of lesser import than the number in the W column.
Wales also have their own language of course, and whether they speak it or not all fans of Cymru will have the feeling of digon nawr – “enough now”. Enough of governance and administrative clustershambles, enough non sell-out matches, enough rationalisation of poor performances, enough losing. For all Italy’s tangible improvement, this was always the match that presented the home side with the best chance of avoiding the wooden spoon and they will be pouring everything into this.
Will it be enough? The form suggests not and added to this the Azzuri have their own motivation to inspire them. Can Wales summon their recent vastly improved outings and add the extra required to overcome this? All will be revealed in the next few hours.
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