Wales ended a three-year wait for a win in the Six Nations with a convincing victory over Italy in Cardiff on Saturday.
Wales entered the match on a 15-game losing streak in the tournament, with their previous Six Nations victory also coming against Italy back in March 2023.
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But after 1,099 days without a win, the hosts delivered a dominant first-half performance to finally end the drought with a 31-17 victory.
No 8 Aaron Wainwright led the charge with two tries to earn the man-of-the-match award, while captain Dewi Lake also crossed during a clinical opening half that saw Wales surge to a 21-0 lead at the break.
Aaron Wainwright hits the ball at pace
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Flyhalf Dan Edwards added a fourth try early in the second half and converted all four scores before landing a drop-goal to extend the lead to 31-0.
Italy, fresh off a historic win over England the previous week, eventually rallied with three tries in the final half hour, but the damage had already been done.
The Azzurri had threatened early when Lorenzo Cannone sparked a break that released Tommaso Menoncello and Monty Ioane, but Wales’ defence held firm before Paolo Garbisi pushed a penalty wide.
Wales made Italy pay soon after.
A lineout deep inside the Italian half created the platform for Wainwright to power through several tackles and score between the posts in the 14th minute.
The powerful No 8 struck again ten minutes later from another attacking line-out before Lake capped a dominant forward display when he crashed over from a driving maul to make it 21-0 inside the opening half hour.
Dan Edwards is having a game
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Wales continued the onslaught after the break when Edwards finished a sweeping move to claim a bonus point before converting his own try.
The flyhalf then produced a superb drop-goal from 40 metres in the 47th minute to stretch the lead to 31-0.
Italy finally got on the scoreboard when replacement Tommaso di Bartolomeo scored in the 51st minute while Wales were down to 14 men following a yellow card to Archie Griffin.
Further tries from Tommaso Allan and Garbisi added respectability to the scoreline, but the late surge came too late for coach Gonzalo Quesada’s side.
WALES – Tries: Aaron Wainwright (3), Dewi Lake, Dan Edwards. Conversions: Edwards (4). Drop Goal: Edwards
ITALY – Tries: Tommaso di Bartolomeo, Tommaso Allan, Paolo Garbisi. Conversion: Garbisi
– AFP
Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images
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