Italy U17 8 Welsh Schools U16 14
Welsh Schools Under 16s beat a powerful Italy Under 17 side to go into their final match of the Under 16/17 Four Nations Tournament in Rome unbeaten.
The young side overcame England Under 16s 28-27 in their opening match, scoring three tries and with a nail-biting final five minutes, but the Italians caused problems and Wales made a number of unforced errors, failing to finish try scoring opportunities.
Scarlets academy member Jordan Williams, who had switched from full back to outside half for the game, edged Wales ahead with a penalty within the first quarter and right wing Ryan Evans grabbed a well-worked try five minutes later. Italy put a lot of pressure on Wales’ line-out and restarts, and Wales failed to gain any real momentum with the only other points of the half coming from an exchange of penalties between Williams and Italy full back Campagnaro, with Wales going in 11-3 to the good.
There was more of the same in the second half and despite some promising performances, in particular from flanker, Daniel Thomas, Wales, led by Ysgol Y Preseli’s Sion Bennett were only able to add a Sam Davies penalty to the scoreboard. Italy, who produced a much improved performance following their 48-8 loss to France on Saturday, finished the match positively with a try for left wing Esposito.
Team manager Roy James said, “It was good to get another win on the board and keep our record in tact, but we have a lot of work to do in the next few days if we are to beat France on Saturday. France put Italy away last weekend, and will be a much tougher challenge than Italy but at least we showed today that we know how to win a match.
“The boys are really relishing the opportunity of playing at the Stadio Flaminio on Saturday. It’s a Six Nations venue and it will be a great way to end a very successful and well-organised tournament.”
Welsh Schools Under 16s play France Under 17s at 2.30pm on Saturday (Stadio Flaminio, Rome).
Wales scorers:
Try: R Evans
Pens: J Williams (2), S Davies
