Wales vs Italy September 5th Cardiff

First topic message reminder :

WALES v ITALY at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Saturday 5th September 2015 – Kick Off: 5pm
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (FFR)


TV Coverage: Live on BBC Two Wales


Tickets for the Wales v Italy warm-up match are available to purchase at the official WRU eTicketing website with prices from £20 – £35.



History

Italy and Wales have played each other at rugby union since 1994. A total of 22 matches have been played, with Wales winning 19, Italy winning two and one drawn match.[1]



Wales Team

15 L Halfpenny
14 A Cuthbert
13 C Allen
12 S Williams
11 G North
10 D Biggar
9 R Webb
1 G Jenkins
2 K Owens
3 T Francis
4 J Ball
5  D Day
6 J King
7 S Warburton
8 T Faletau.

Reps: 16 K Dacey, 17 P James, 18 A Jarvis, 19 L Charteris,  20 R Moriarty,  21 G Davies,  22 R Priestland,  23 M Morgan.





Italian Team

15 Andrea Masi
14 Leonardo Sarto
13 Luca Morisi
12 Gonzalo Garcia
11 Giovanbattista Venditti
10 Tommaso Allan
9 Edoardo Gori
1 Michele Rizzo
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Quintin Geldenhuys
5 Josh Furno
6 Alessandro Zanni
7Francesco Minto
8 Sergio Parisse (capt)

Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Valerio Bernabo', 20 Samula Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Luke McLean.

Seems to work well for the wallabies

I want to see Matthew Morgan at 10, Tipuric at 7 as link man, Warburton at 6. Not sure if Italy is the right game to try it though.

When Australia and even Ireland play with 2 sevens they play one at 7 and one at8 so are you wanting to play Warby at 8 .As been said on quite a few threads now if you want to play Tips you drop Warby .Tips and Lyds was outstanding against Ireland and Toby is Toby always a good player.

It's a good game to experiment with a team designed to score tries.

Not sure how the coaches envisage approaching this game but it would be nice to see the boys trying to beat the score we put on Italy in the six nations.

Morgan at ten, exciting prospect...

We need to make sure we have a strong platform before we start thinking about racking up points. I want to see a strong platform and defence alongside a clear game plan. If we don't have a platform this could be a banana skin and we could undo the morale gained last Saturday.

True Italy are usually pretty solid in the set piece.

The game is no gimme and a narrow result would be a poor result. But we need to score tries against teams of Italy's quality. They rank lower than Fiji.

Starting: L Halfpenny; A Cuthbert, C Allen, S Williams, G North; D Biggar, R Webb; G Jenkins, K Owens, T Francis; J Ball, D Day; J King, S Warburton, T Faletau.

Reps: K Dacey, P James, A Jarvis, L Charteris, R Moriarty, G Davies, R Priestland, M Morgan.

Decent team

Think we will see Morgan with 20 to go when Italy are tired.

Think this will be repeated against uruguay

Thought Amos would get a game

That's an interesting selection. I didn't expect that team to play

Thought it would be far more fringe players

No wing cover on the bench, so it looks like Cuthbert's going to play the full 80 again. 160 minutes hasn't been enough for him to play his way into form, so they're giving him longer. What happens if he's still dreadful at the final whistle?

Matthew Morgan covers wimg

maestegmafia wrote:Matthew Morgan covers wimg

Much better than he covers 10 and 15 !

Interesting selection, surprised a few more haven't been rested (especially Gethin)

The backs should get a good platform to attack from, based on how Italy did last week against Scotland and against us in the 6Ns, this might not be pretty.

Gatland is clearly giving Cuthbert all the opportunities with his 3rd game in a row, I would rather see Amos given a run.

Be interesting to see how Allen does after 6 months out.

wales606 wrote:Interesting selection, surprised a few more haven't been rested (especially Gethin)

The backs should get a good platform to attack from, based on how Italy did last week against Scotland and against us in the 6Ns, this might not be pretty.

Gatland is clearly giving Cuthbert all the opportunities with his 3rd game in a row, I would rather see Amos given a run.

Be interesting to see how Allen does after 6 months out.

Hope he has a stormer. Keep the other two on their toes!

A lot stronger team than I expected, still cant see the point of using Moriarty and Dacey and seems a bit of a smack in the face to me.

Would have given James, Davies and Morgan a start, as mentioned be good to see how Allen goes and hope he's not to rusty.

Although I think Cuthbert comes in for some un warranted stick he is definitely getting more time to prove himself than others and I hope Amos is giving a start against Uruguay.

Any news on Italy?

Italy side:

Rizzo, Ghiraldini, Castro
Geldenhuys, Furno
Zanni, Parrisse, Minto

Gori, Allan
Masi,Sarto,Morisi,Garcia, Venditti

I have to be honest, is that close to Italy's first team?

There some of the usual faces in there think the pack is pretty much first choice

Strong Italy team, they will be a different beast to last week with Parisse back.

That's a good Italy side

I am really pleased we picked a team with some strength to it. Shows respect for Italy. They have picked a good side too, they will be pleased to get Parisse back in the side.

Let's hope it's a great game to watch too.

munkian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Matthew Morgan covers wimg

Much better than he covers 10 and 15 !

I would be really worried to see Morgan at 15 as his defence is rubbish, or 10 as he can't run a game. He hardly had a look in at the Ospreys and even lower level club Bristol relied very heavily on Robinson when some control was needed. Maybe wing is his future, certainly against Uraguay, I would be really worried though to see him in the 22 against one of the better teams, including Fiji. He needs to play at a higher level than the English Championship though to develop his game.

Seagultaf wrote:

munkian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Matthew Morgan covers wimg

Much better than he covers 10 and 15 !

I would be really worried to see Morgan at 15 as his defence is rubbish, or 10 as he can't run a game. He hardly had a look in at the Ospreys and even lower level club Bristol relied very heavily on Robinson when some control was needed. Maybe wing is his future, certainly against Uraguay, I would be really worried though to see him in the 22 against one of the better teams, including Fiji. He needs to play at a higher level than the English Championship though to develop his game.

He did really well against the springboks in SA.

They will work on his defence in camp, same as they did with Shane Williams, who to be fair, was a solid defender by the time Gats and Edwards had worked with him.

Morgan's game management at Ospreys, Bristol, Swansea and Under 20s Welsh team was not so bad. He orchestrated Wales to a win over the junior all blacks at the JRWC..

I reiterate the points made about Dacey and Moriarty. Also what is up with the midfield? I always thought Allen was now considered a 13.

mikey_dragon wrote:I reiterate the points made about Dacey and Moriarty. Also what is up with the midfield? I always thought Allen was now considered a 13.

What were your points about Dacey and Moriarty?

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:I reiterate the points made about Dacey and Moriarty. Also what is up with the midfield? I always thought Allen was now considered a 13.

What were your points about Dacey and Moriarty?

I was reiterating the points made by other posters but didn't really go into it (why are they in this weekends squad when not in the world cup squad) - it doesn't make much sense to me.

TightHEAD wrote:I have to be honest, is that close to Italy's first team?

Don't know. Either way they'll lose. What is your score prediction TH? I want you to be more vocal, just like you were around the time of our first warm-up game .

mikey_dragon wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:I reiterate the points made about Dacey and Moriarty. Also what is up with the midfield? I always thought Allen was now considered a 13.

What were your points about Dacey and Moriarty?

I was reiterating the points made by other posters but didn't really go into it (why are they in this weekends squad when not in the world cup squad) - it doesn't make much sense to me.

I guess it is to rest players in their position, also to keep Moriarty and Dacey fresh invade they have to cover for injuries.

Rob Evans was retained as well. We are a bit thin on flankers, Looseheads and hookers. So it makes sense to keep those three positions first replacements involved. You never know when we might need them.

Gethin is susceptible to calf problems, Warburton has had a shoulder niggle, and we only have two hookers, though I hear Aaron Jarvis can cover hooker and has been nominated by the coaches to appease those that need appeasing.

I really can't see the point in Moriarty and Dacey being there either but that's my opinion and as for Jarvis being used as a hooker ffs he struggles in his natural position most of the time.

Wales 38 Italy 19

I'd be disappointed if we let Italy score 19

bedfordwelsh wrote:I really can't see the point in Moriarty and Dacey being there either but that's my opinion and as for Jarvis being used as a hooker ffs he struggles in his natural position most of the time.

Yeah, exactly this.

52-10

TightHEAD wrote:Wales 38 Italy 19

I wouldn't be surprised if it close to this, but a little disappointed. I think Italy will be an improved team by tomorrow, I just hope we are as well.

Its funny seeing the names Moriarty and Dacey together - Takes me back to the early 80's playing against Swansea - Malcolm was a good outside half back then

Are Wales going to wear blindfolds for the first half to keep this one competitive?

mikey_dragon wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Wales 38 Italy 19

I wouldn't be surprised if it close to this, but a little disappointed. I think Italy will be an improved team by tomorrow, I just hope we are as well.

That's a lorrah work to get in between now and tomorrow!

It will be interesting to see if Gatland leaves the majority of players on the pitch for the full 80 and give them a bit more time to get the moves and combinations working or rotate them hopefully after the game is won.

bedfordwelsh wrote:It will be interesting to see if Gatland leaves the majority of players on the pitch for the full 80 and give them a bit more time to get the moves and combinations working or rotate them hopefully after the game is won.

Can't imagine he will risk the key guys

I expect Webb, Biggar, Halfpenny, Gethin, Owens and probably Faletau will be coming off at 60 minutes

wales606 wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:It will be interesting to see if Gatland leaves the majority of players on the pitch for the full 80 and give them a bit more time to get the moves and combinations working or rotate them hopefully after the game is won.

Can't imagine he will risk the key guys

I expect Webb, Biggar, Halfpenny, Gethin, Owens and probably Faletau will be coming off at 60 minutes

I agree...!

No need to risk too much so close to the RWC.

These are the games i dread the most, the last warm up game before(A BIG) Tournament. and the Rugby World Cup is the biggest tournament there is. Not only in the players life- but also for the country in which the player plays.

What i am getting at is, all it takes is one knock, one badly timed tackle, and your best player/s could be out of the tournament all together.

So lets hope that their are no injuries this week end for any player. No Matter what country they play for.

majesticimperialman wrote:

So lets hope that their are no injuries this week end for any player. No Matter what country they play for.

Hear hear

World Cup warm-up victory in Ireland and they will look to build on that against Italy.

One final 80 minutes remains before they recover and prepare to face Uruguay in what they hope will be a lethal procession at this same venue.
There is little doubt who the man of the match was against the Irish in Dublin and Justin Tipuric is now taking the weekend off as captain Sam Warburton returns. In all honestly it would be odd not to see Warren Gatland go with both players in the back-row against the South Americans, with points difference likely to be a factor in the pool shake-up. Dan Lydiate would be the one to miss their opener before stifling the pool's big fish.
Gatland has however chosen not to rest first-choice half-back duo Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar as it seems he would like one final hit-out for his playmakers and also the likes of Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny, Scott Williams and George North. Taulupe Faletau is another keeping his place, with few alternatives at number eight.
It's been an excellent week all told for Wales as that Dublin win was followed by positive news on the recoveries of Liam Williams and Samson Lee. Meanwhile Lee's replacement, Tomas Francis, impressed on debut which creates real depth in a key area. He also starts in successive weeks.
Unlike Uruguay, the Azzurri will be no walkover on Saturday and with the return of Sergio Parisse, Andrea Masi and Edoardo Gori among others, they will be desperate to respond from the hammering they took against Scotland. Wales embarrassing them in Rome back in March may also sting.
That Six Nations result displayed the first signs of the much-talked about fitter and stronger Wales ahead of the World Cup, with some pundits querying whether they had peaked prematurely. A repeat margin like that 61-10 win would say otherwise but will they show all their cards now?
Indeed this is set to be a game where Wales put their foot to the floor for an hour before key personnel such as the front-row, half-backs and Halfpenny take their leave and we see possibly one of their trump cards for the World Cup, Matthew Morgan, emerge. Things are warming nicely for Gatland and with the mindgames already started with Stuart Lancaster, having a fully fit squad and another victory to speak of would be just the ticket.
Ones to watch:

For Wales: Justin Tipuric set a standard last week against Ireland and Sam Warburton will look to follow it against the Azzurri. The Welsh captain joins Taulupe Faletau and James King in the back-row while Tomas Francis gets successive Test starts following a very impressive debut in Dublin. Saturday is also a big opportunity for Alex Cuthbert to make a statement on the wing as he looks for tries.
For Italy: After a good break from the action, captain Sergio Parisse is back in the Italian side at number eight. His importance to the Azzurri has been well documented over the years and it would be typical of the man to need little time to get back up to speed with Test rugby. Andrea Masi is also recalled along with first-choice scrum-half Edoardo Gori, who returns to the fold after his suspension.
Head-to-head: Two strong wings clash at the Millennium Stadium as George North and Leonardo Sarto go toe-to-toe. North is eager to get minutes under his belt after issues with concussion and coming through unscathed for the second fixture in a week would do his and Welsh fans' confidence a power of good. Sarto meanwhile is a rangy runner who has power and speed off the mark. He is not to be underestimated.
Recent results:

2015: Wales won 61-10 in Rome
2014: Wales won 23-15 in Cardiff
2013: Wales won 26-9 in Rome
2012: Wales won 24-3 in Cardiff
2011: Wales won 24-16 in Rome
2010: Wales won 33-10 in Cardiff
2009: Wales won 20-15 in Rome
2008: Wales won 47-8 in Cardiff
Prediction: Italy will look to avoid a repeat of Murrayfield. They will improve but go down to Wales by 25!

Let's hope this game is a bit more exciting than the one just finished on sky sports..

Hats talking about trying james king at eight in the game

maestegmafia wrote:Hats talking about trying james king at eight in the game

Makes sense, they need to know someone can cover there.

Marcia Reale is such a cracking tune...!