A much-changed Wales overcame yellow cards to Liam Williams and Gareth Davies to put Italy to the sword at Principality Stadium and place themselves in the mix for the runners-up spot in the Six Nations.
With injuries blighting their campaign, 10 changes were made by Warren Gatland, with several players making their first starts, while all eyes were on debutant James Davies at flanker.
Here, we analyse the performance of Davies and two other new faces with an evolving Wales squad looking to blood a wave of new talent ahead of next year’s World Cup.
James Davies (27)
Passes – 3
Runs – 4
Metres made – 20
Tackles – 18
Missed tackles – 0
Penalties conceded – 1
The Welsh public has been waiting a while to see the Scarlets flanker get his hands on a red jersey at international level, and they weren’t disappointed as Davies put in an all-action performance.
The man nicknamed “Cubby Boi” has put in numerous man-of-the-match displays at club level where he has won a Pro12 title, but for some reason the 27-year-old has had to wait for recognition at international level – in stark contrast to older brother Jonathan who has earned 65 caps for the Dragons and been one of the standouts for Warren Gatland – for Wales and the Lions – for much of the last decade.
The elder Davies is nicknamed ‘Fox” which in turn explains James’ moniker, which became infamous after a trip to Las Vegas in which he got it tattooed on his knuckles.
It is crazy shenanigans such as that off the pitch, and sometimes on it, that has apparently deterred the Welsh management from giving Davies a shot; it was the morning after the Vegas incident that Davies found out he hadn’t been included in Wales’ 2015 Rugby World Cup squad.
Wales have a number of superb options at flanker, but other than Justin Tipuric – who also somehow struggles to get a proper look-in – lack genuine dynamism.
Davies showed that in abundance as he made several forays forward against Italy as well as making the most tackles of any Welsh player.
He did more than enough to suggest he can thrive at international level – forcing a turnover, stealing possession and gathering a well-weighted chip to set up a sparkling move that almost yielded a try for Steff Evans. His performance was only blighted by a shoulder charge and a knock-on.
Rating 8/10
James Davies was making his Wales debut at 27.
Owen Watkin (21)
Passes – 6
Runs – 2
Metres made – 56
Tackles – 10
Missed tackles – 0
Penalties conceded – 0
Like Davies at flanker, Wales have been accused of a lack of ideas at centre in recent years, where the crash ball skills of Jamie Roberts were utilised heavily throughout the ‘Warrenball’ days.
Wales and their head coach were rightly accused of being too one-dimensional, especially when they had the guile of Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies at their disposal.
But with Roberts in his twilight years and Gatland’s era coming to an end, the Kiwi has admirably begun the handover by belatedly switching up Wales’ attacking approach, with Watkin bedded in during the autumn internationals.
The young centre’s cunning and footballing instincts epitomise Gatland’s free-running tactical shift for the game against porous opposition and it didn’t take long for the Ospreys centre to have an impact.
A brilliant intercept after a terrible blind pass from Italy flanker Maxime Mbanda saw the centre surge up the middle of the field and into enemy territory. His speed was impressive and when he was running out of room, he had the presence of mind to slow down slightly and fling a perfect pass into the arms of George North who finished with aplomb. It was brilliant vision from Watkin, coupled with searing pace and intelligence that belied his 21 years.
He made the third-most metres of any team-mate outside North and Evans and also put in a shift in defence, making 10 tackles – joint sixth in a red shirt.
In the build-up to the game Watkin had revealed his dream of wanting to play in a World Cup. He certainly didn’t do his prospects any harm here.
Rating 7/10
At just 21, Owen Watkin is a bright prospect for Wales.
Elliot Dee (24)
Passes – 2
Runs – 9
Metres made – 4
Tackles – 10
Missed tackles – 0
Penalties conceded – 1
Recovered from an early penalty conceded for taking out Sergio Parisse as Italy pressed near the Wales line to enjoy a near faultless display.
The hooker, like Watkin, has been around the fringes of the squad since featuring in the autumn, making his debut against Georgia. But he shone on his first start with his insatiable work rate evident throughout.
The Dragons prospect epitomises what the modern forward is all about. Long gone are the days when a portly battering ram would thrive at the elite level. Today everyone in the pack has to be an athlete and Dee showed desire to scrap for every ball – effective in both defence and attack.
He even could have had a try at the end of the first half when he saw an opening and scampered to brilliantly charge down Azzurri scrum-half Marcello Violo’s box kick. He was held back as he dived on the ball, and even though a penalty was given by Jerome Garces, Violo survived being sin-binned.
Dee spoke earlier this week of wanting to make his late mum Lynn proud when he made his first start for Wales, on Mother’s Day.
The Dragons hooker, who turned 24 last week, lost his mum two years ago but she surely would have been proud of her son’s blistering performance.
Rating 7/10
Elliot Dee was everywhere for Wales.
