Wales 18 - 18 Italy
Honours ended even in Cardiff as Wales and Italy shared the points in an 18-18 draw in front of 74,402 fans in the Millennium Stadium. The result means defending champions Wales can no longer win the 2006 RBS Six Nations, after winning the Grand Slam last term.
The home side got off to a flying start, racing into an 8-0 lead after ten minutes.thanks to a Stephen Jones penalty and a Mark Jones try. But Italy were displaying the kind of mettle that has seen them push Ireland, England and France close in this season's championship, and they battled back with a try from Ezio Galon just five minutes later.
But a stunning interception try by winger Pablo Canavosio with just minutes left in the first half saw Italy go into the break level pegging with Wales at 15-15. The home side, that lost scrum-half Dwayne Peel early on with a shoulder injury could not add to their two first half tries as the scoring in the second period was limited to a penalty a piece to make the final score 18-18.
Scoring Sequence
WAL Pen: Stephen Jones (59 mins)
ITA Pen: Ramiro Pez (46 mins)
ITA Con: Ramiro Pez (40 mins)
ITA Try: Pablo Canavosio (38 mins)
ITA Pen: Ramiro Pez (31 mins)
WAL Con: Stephen Jones (29 mins)
WAL Try: Stephen Jones (28 mins)
ITA Try: E Galon (14 mins)
WAL Try: Mark Jones (9 mins)
WAL Pen: Stephen Jones (4 mins)
Lineups
Wales:
L Byrne (Scarlets)
M Jones (Scarlets)
H Luscombe (Dragons)
M Watkins (Scarlets)
S Williams (Ospreys)
S Jones (Clermont Auvergne)
D Peel (Scarlets)
D Jones (Ospreys)
R Thomas (Blues)
A Jones (Ospreys)
I Gough (Dragons)
R Sidoli (Blues)
C Charvis (Newcastle)
M Williams (Blues)
M Owen (Dragons, capt)
Replacements:
M Davies (Gloucester)
G Jenkins (Blues)
J Thomas (Ospreys)
A Popham (Scarlets)
M Phillips (Blues)
N Robinson (Blues)
G Henson (Ospreys)
Italy:
E Galon (Overmach Parma)
P Canavosio (Calvisano)
G Canale (Clermont Auvergne)
Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais)
L Nitoglia (Calvisano)
R Pez (Perpignan)
P Griffen (Calvisano)
S Perugini (Calvisano)
C Festuccia (Gran Parma)
C Nieto (Viadana)
S Dellape (Agen)
M Bortolami (Narbonne, capt)
S Parisse (Stade Francais)
M Zaffiri (Calvisano)
J Sole (Viadana)
Replacements:
A Lo Cicero (L'Aquila)
F Ongaro (Treviso)
M Castrogiovanni (Calvisano)
C Del Fava (Bourgoin)
A Zanni (Calvisano)
S Picone (Treviso)
C Stoica (Montpellier)
Referee: Joel Jutge (France)
Touch Judges:
Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Robert Dickson (Scotland)
TV: Eric Darriere (France)
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