- Written by Matt Lloyd
- BBC Sport Wales at Principality Stadium
image source, Getty Images
Italy remain unbeaten in their last Six Nations match
Italy's celebration at the final whistle in Cardiff said everything about how far the Azzurri have come this season.
The second successive victory in Wales ended the biggest Six Nations campaign with two wins and a draw.
Two years ago, Paolo Garbisi collapsed to the floor in tears after scoring a shocking victory with a last-gasp kick.
Here on Saturday, there was a punch that marked an admirable job of living up to pregame expectations.
Victory two years ago was rare and this year it was expected. The only surprise was that in the end the scoreline was 24-21, much to the delight of Wales.
“The mindset we have on the pitch now is something we've never had before,” captain Michele Ramaro said.
“We were confident and worked hard for each other. We went through many difficult moments, but now we can celebrate the good ones.
“Two years ago I felt great, but this year is different. Now I know I can still improve and not just avoid the wooden spoon.
“We have heard a thousand times that Italy has a bright future, but we are tired of it. We want to live in the moment, we want to be competitive now… we want to win now.”
How close were they to winning four? Apart from the heavy defeat to Ireland, Italy only lost by three points to England, beat Scotland and Wales and came close to winning against France.
It was a surprising turnaround for the team under new coach Gonzalo Quesada, who suffered a disastrous defeat to New Zealand in the World Cup just five months ago, conceding 96 points.
Wales reached the quarter-finals but suffered a setback. Italy have spent the last few months building an identity around the Benetton club and a new age group strategy.
“We had to redefine the identity of this team and what we want to be,” Quesada said in one of the four languages he speaks fluently.
“We held workshops and meetings with the players to think about the roots of Italian rugby and what makes it different.
“We wanted to improve our set-piece organization, but the important thing was to get them on the path to expression in attack. That's what rugby is about.”
“The players felt the change right away, believed in the change, and today they [against Wales] I've seen wild game on that road.
“Two games don't decide a team, we said that after the World Cup and we will continue to say that.
“We've got to be more consistent with what we're doing and be competitive with any team in the tournament, and that's what we have to do.”
image source, Getty Images
Monty Ioane helped Italy lead 18-0 against Wales in Cardiff
Italy had lost 16 Six Nations games in a row before beating Wales in 2022.
Their future in the Championship has been under intense scrutiny with calls for promotion and relegation from the Rugby European Championship, such as Georgia, and knocking on their door since Portugal.
“The pleasing thing for the Six Nations is that we have a competitive Italian team,” Wales head coach Warren Gatland said after his team lost 24-21.
“For a long time we used to make nine or 10 changes against them because they weren't like that. But we can't do that anymore. They're a quality team and it's a challenge for everyone. .”
Today, no one questions Italy's place in the Six Nations.
