'Doing a job on Italy is something you should expect at this level'
Both Wales and Italy arrive in Cardiff for Super Saturday off the back of arguably their two best performances of the Guinness Six Nations so far.
Wales fought hard in a loss to Grand Slam chasing France, in which captain Dan Biggar felt the better side lost. Similarly, Italy put in by far their best performance of the Championship in a 33-22 loss to Scotland. Nevertheless, the Azzurri have now lost 36 matches in a row in the Six Nations and it does not look like they will arrest that slump soon.
To make matters worse for Kieran Crowley's Italy, Wales could welcome back skipper Alun Wyn Jones.
When, where and how to watch the match
The match will kick-off at 14:15 (UK) on Saturday March 19th at the Principality Stadium and will be broadcast live on the BBC in the UK and S4C in Wales, RTÉ in Ireland, Stan Sport in Australia and SuperSport in South Africa.
Head-to-head
Since their first meeting in 1994, Wales have accumulated a healthy record of 27 wins and two losses against Wales, including one draw and are currently on a 16 match winning streak against Saturday's visitors.
Match odds from bet365
bet365 have the handicap on Wales at -27, with 18/1 odds that Italy win. There are also 1/10 odds the hosts win both halves.
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Prediction
Former Wales captain Sam Warburton expects Wales to win this weekend against an Italy team that have struggled so far this Championship, saying "doing a job on Italy is something you should expect at this level." He also reflected on Wales' performance as a whole over the Six Nations on the BBC's Six Nations: Rugby Special, and gave a surprising verdict.
"From Wales, weirdly, even though they've only won one game from four matches, this sounds strange, I actually think they've played better than last season when they won the Championship," the two-time Six Nations winner said.
"Or maybe I'm more pleased with the way they've played. They're a side is in transition, they've got loads of senior players missing and they've got a World Cup 18 months away they're building towards.
"Welsh fans need to be a bit patient, they're not going to be hitting their straps now. I knew this Six Nations we were going to be finding out about some players and I think they've done OK. They've gone to Twickenham and put in a respectable performance. The bad one was Ireland, they'll want to forget about that, but since the Irish game I've actually been surprisingly pleased with Wales."
*Odds accurate as of 14/03/22.
Latest Comments
Hard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
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