Italy’s 24-21 win passes Six Nations wooden spoon to Wales

Italy earned another historic win in Cardiff beating the hosts 24-21.

This has left Wales with the dreaded wooden spoon for finishing last in the Six Nations.

They have avoided defeat in three consecutive matches for the first time and racked up a record number of competition points.

Whether they equal their best finishing position of fourth in 2007 and 2013 depended on the late matches.

Italy received the wooden spoon in the previous eight years, but it was passed to Wales for the first time in 21 years after the Welsh lost all five games in the championship.

Perhaps a fear of the spoon was the reason Wales seemed racked by anxiety, especially in the first half. Knock-ons, dropped passes and missed touch-finders made Wales easier to handle for a highly confident Italy with a superior scrum and panic-free defense.

Only when they trailed 18-0 after 46 minutes did Wales shrug off its caution. But Italy moved ahead 24-7. A couple of very late converted tries gave Wales a flattering scoreline.

The humbling was compounded by the sad sight in the dying moments of George North needing help to limp off his 124th and last test match. This was North's swansong to a great 14-year test career.

Source: Stuff.co