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Hit and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s Live coverage of these two teams’ last Fall Nations Cup meeting, the fifth-place final at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli.
This is the last hurray for Wales to end a disappointing 2020 on top against the team that started Wayne Pivac’s reign with such optimism. Wales beat today’s visitors 42-0 in Pivac’s first match in charge, in February at Six Nations 2020, but have since lost seven of their last eight matches; his only victory was against humble Georgia. They have also scored just six attempts in their last five games.
In the meantime, there are signs that Italy is improving, and they cannot be taken lightly even if they have lost their last eight straight games in all competitions – the Azzurri’s most recent victory was in September 2019 when they beat Canada 48 -7 in the World Cup. Cup in Japan.
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones has praised Chief Pivac for standing his ground and bleeding new talent during the fall campaign.
The highest qualification they can get in the Nations Cup is fifth, finishing a long way from the commercial finale of a tournament that concludes with Sunday’s final between England and France.
However, Pivac has been unwavering in its commitment to developing potential players for the 2023 World Cup.
And that has been underlined by the appearance in recent weeks at the international level of prospects such as Gloucester wing Louis Rees-Zammit, Scarlets center Johnny Williams, Bristol midfielder Callum Sheedy, in addition to Cardiff Blues flanks. Shane Lewis-Hughes and James Botham.
“You have to give Wayne credit,” Wales captain Jones said.
“I know I’m inside the tent, so I can add that element of bias, but when you take it away and look at management decisions, he stood his ground and continued to provide opportunities for people.
“In some of the games we’ve had, he probably could have gotten away safe and rewrote by selecting people who have played before. He has stood his ground and provided opportunities.”
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