Italy player ratings v Wales: ‘Gladiatorial’ performance inspires Azzurri to famous victory as Garbisi conducts Gatland’s latest demise
Here's how we rated the Italian players in the 2025 Six Nations victory over Wales.
Following Italy’s 22-15 victory over Wales in round two of the Six Nations, here is how we rated the Azzurri in a famous win in Rome.
Italy player ratings v Wales
15 Tommaso Allan: A crucial figure in dictating where the game is played as the Italy full-back regularly put his team in the right areas of the pitch. He did have a handful of uncharacteristic misses from the tee but they weren’t gimmes. Shifted to fly-half well before making way with the result secured – a quality performance. 8
14 Ange Capuozzo: For all his attacking brilliance, the Toulouse star’s defence goes largely under the radar. Sure he doesn’t knock the wind out of defenders in the manner that Seb Negri does but his interventions are just as crucial. After sensationally taking his half-chance, he spoiled Josh Adams’ opportunity with a hit around the Welshman’s arms forcing the ball to be dislodged. His aerial ability and kick chase was also top-notch. 7
13 Juan Ignacio Brex: Less impactful as he has been previously but it was not a day for glorious backline play. Still, he worked sterlingly in tandem with his centre partner, keeping Wales‘ rudderless attack at bay. A key cog in terms of leadership of defence and team overall. 6
12 Tommaso Menoncello: Last year’s player of the championship and after two rounds, he is making a good fist of going back-to-back. In torrid conditions, attacking opportunities were limited but he was magnificently effective in defence and rapid in his double actions, leading to penalties and immense pressure for Wales. 6
11 Monty Ioane: Added real pace to the attack whenever he touched the ball and countered wonderfully. Defensively, he was a bit suspect but it did not have a bearing on the outcome. 6
10 Paolo Garbisi: Sparked the opening try with a delightful dummy and grubber to serve Capuozzo on a platter. His game management was of the highest order and he picked his moments perfectly to take the ball to the line. The conductor of Wales’ latest demise. 8
Wales woes deepen as history-making Italy inflict FOURTEENTH straight loss on Six Nations strugglers
9 Martin Page-Relo: Coming up against the in-form Tomos Williams was not going to be an easy task for the Italian but he rose to the occasion and produced a blinder. He kicked outstandingly well out of hand and made quick, decisive and effective decisions with the ball in hand. 8
Cannone at the centre
8 Lorenzo Cannone: A gladiatorial performance from the star back-rower who was front and centre of everything that the Azzurri did well, particularly in the first half where he racked up an incredible 65 metres – more than double any other player – topped the tackle (8) and carry (8) counts, beat more defenders than any other player and claimed two turnovers – the joint most of the opening 40. No wonder UK teams are sniffing about for his services. He set the tone in the first half and kept that tempo throughout the match. 9
7 Michele Lamaro (c): Never shies away from the workload on defence and today was no different as he was part of the emphatic barrage of the Welsh breakdown. 7
6 Sebastian Negri: A wrecking ball in blue, there isn’t much subtlety to his game but considering his frame and the conditions today, there was no need for it. He knocked the wind out of several Welshmen on either side of the ball taking multiple players with every carry. He didn’t rack-up impressive meterage but crucially took bodies with him. 8
5 Federico Ruzza: What you’d expect from the Azzurri lock, great lineout work, huge work-rate and little fuss. 6
4 Niccolo Cannone: On a destruction mission along with his brother as the Jake Paul doppelgänger landed huge blows on defences and got through a huge amount of work. 7
Front-row grunt
3 Simone Ferrari: Again the Italian scrum put the opposition under pressure and much of that had to do with the power of Ferrari. Outside of that, he was solid defensively again. 6
2 Giacomo Nicotera: A menace at the breakdown winning three turnovers in a much-improved outing compared to last week. He was accurate at the set-pieces too. An excellent shift from the hooker. 8
1 Danilo Fischetti: Another strong and lengthy performance from the loosehead prop who seemingly never stops working. He is mightily impressive in contact. 7
Replacements: The Welsh pack started to get the upper hand when Gonzalo Quesada rang the chances as Marco Riccioni struggled to contain Nicky Smith with the same being true on the other side of the scrum. While the bench didn’t get as much as they would have wanted from the bench, it was enough to see out the famous victory as for the first time ever, Italy have gone back-to-back over Wales. 3