WALES 33 ITALY 10:FULLBACK LUKE McLean believes Italy have made a big step forward during this year's Six Nations, despite the Azzurri ending up with the wooden spoon for the eighth time in 11 seasons.
Nick Mallett’s side ended their campaign with a 33-10 defeat at the hands of Wales in Cardiff on Saturday which, allied to Scotland’s victory in Ireland, saw them slide to the foot of the table.
McLean believes the table is not a fair reflection of the progress Italy have made. He said: “There has been a progression. From last year’s Six Nations there has been a big improvement. We didn’t play how we wanted against Ireland and France was another tough one for us. But we could have beaten England, we felt we should have won that game, and it would have made it a really good Six Nations for us.”
Having trailed 12-0 at the break to four Stephen Jones penalties, Italy were cut apart in the second period as centre James Hook crossed twice for the home side and Shane Williams registered his 51st try for his country before McLean grabbed his late consolation.
Tries:Hook 2, S Williams Cons: S Jones 3 Pens: S Jones 4
WALES:Byrne; Prydie, Hook, J Roberts, S Williams; S Jones, M Phillips; Jenkins, M Rees, A Jones, B Davies, Charteris, Thomas, Warburton, R Jones. Replacements: Shanklin for J Roberts (63), Bishop for S Jones (70), Peel for M Phillips (70), Bennett for M Rees (63), P James for A Jones (63), Gough for B Davies (15), Delve for R Jones (67).
ITALY:McLean; Robertson, Canale, Garcia, M Bergamasco; Gower, Canavosio; Perugini, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Geldenhuys, Bortolami, Sole, M Bergamasco, Zanni. Replacements: Pratichetti for Canale (4), Tebaldi for Canavosio (25), Aguero for Perugini (55), Ongaro for Ghiraldini (65), Bernabo for Bortolami (73), Vosawai for Sole (55), Bocchino for Tebaldi (63). Sin Bin: M Bergamasco (56).
Referee:W Barnes (RFU).
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