Italy v Wales match preview, coverage & key stats
Guinness Men's Six Nations: Italy v Wales
Venue: Stadio Olimpico Date: Saturday, 8 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT
Coverage: Listen live on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales & BBC Radio Cymru; text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website and app; watch on ITV1 and S4C.
Overview
Beleaguered Wales head to Rome on a record run of 13 straight defeats knowing another against Italy will put them one step closer to retaining the dreaded Wooden Spoon.
In round one, Warren Gatland's side were held to nil for the first time in a Six Nations match by a France side that barely needed to get out of second gear.
They now take on the Italians, who are smarting from the defensive errors that allowed Scotland to score five tries last week.
The Azzurri go into the match in the rare position of being favourites for a Six Nations fixture. They have won two of their last three against the Welsh but have not beaten them on home soil since 2007.
Italy team news
Italy have made just one change from the side that lost to Scotland in week one with Niccolo Cannone replacing Dino Lamb in the second row.
There is also continuity among the replacements with Jacopo Trulla the only new addition as they opt for for six forwards and two backs on the bench.
Italy: 15-Allan; 14-Capuozzo, 13-Brex, 12-Menoncello, 11-Ioane; 10-P Garbisi, 9-Page-Relo; 1-Fischetti, 2-Nicotera, 3-Ferrari, 4-N Cannone, 5-Ruzza, 6-Negri, 7-Lamaro (capt), 8-L Cannone.
Replacements: 16-Lucchesi, 17-Rizzoli, 18-Riccioni, 19-Lamb, 20-Zuliani, 21-Vintcent, 22-A Garbisi, 23-Trulla.
Wales team news
Wales number eight Taulupe Faletau will make his first appearance since the 2023 World Cup in one of two changes to the side that were thrashed by France.
Faletau replaces Aaron Wainwright, who drops to the bench after suffering a facial injury against the French.
The only other alteration to the starting XV sees Eddie James make his first Test start. He comes in at inside centre with Nick Tompkins moving to 13 to replace the injured Owen Watkin.
Wales: 15-L. Williams; 14-Rogers, 13-Tompkins, 12-James, 11-Adams; 10-B Thomas, 9-T. Williams; 1-G. Thomas, 2-Lloyd, 3-H. Thomas, 4-Rowlands, 5-Jenkins, 6-Botham, 7-Morgan (capt), 8-Faletau.
Replacements: 16-Dee, 17-Smith, 18-Assiratti, 19-F. Thomas, 20-Wainwright, 21-R. Williams, 22-Edwards, 23-Murray.
View from both camps
Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada: "Wales have had a day more preparation than us and that is worth gold at this stage of the competition.
"Not a single one of us thinks that this will be an easy match. It will be a fierce battle against a team that will be very different from that of 2024, a team with a lot of experience and pride."
Wales head coach Warren Gatland: "When you're looking at picking a squad, if you make three or four changes, do those players feel like they've been made the scapegoat?
"There's a couple of forced changes, but there's an opportunity for those guys to go out and do what we did well last week.
"Also an opportunity to fix some things to change the performance."
Commentator's notes
Andrew Cotter: Ordinarily Italy versus Wales might not gather too much attention on a Six Nations weekend, but this year the spotlight will shine brightly on a pivotal match - victory for Wales and it could be a turning point. With defeat it would be hard to see beyond another Wooden Spoon.
A key battle will be in the midfield where Italy have the dangerous Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex partnership outside Paolo Garbisi, while injury to Owen Watkin means Eddie James getting his first start for Wales, and Ben Thomas has yet to show his best rugby at fly-half.
Yet despite the scoreline at Murrayfield last weekend the Azzurri were comprehensively outplayed by Scotland, while even in a humbling defeat in Paris there were signs of life for Wales.
Add to that the vast experience and talents of Taulupe Faletau returning to the back row and perhaps there is reason for Welsh hope in a game with so much at stake.
Match facts
Head-to-head
After 16 defeats in a row against Wales, Italy have won two of their last three encounters.
The Azzurri are aiming to win back-to-back games against the Welsh for the first time.
Italy's last two victories against Wales both came in Cardiff. They have not won on home soil versus the Welsh since the 2007 Six Nations and have lost their last eight such meetings in a row, with the last six coming by a margin of 10 or more points.
Italy
After 26 successive Six Nations defeats at home, Italy won their last game in the tournament in Rome against Scotland last year.
They are now aiming to register back-to-back home victories in the Six Nations for only the second time after a 13-6 win over Scotland in 2012 and a 23-18 victory against France in 2013.
The Azzurri completed 212 tackles in week one, more than any other side (Wales were second with 185).
Sebastian Negri's 26 tackles was the joint-second most by an Italian in a Six Nations match after Michele Lamaro's 27 v Scotland last year.
Wales
Defeat to Italy would equal Wales' longest ever losing run in the various guises of this championship, which was eight matches set between 1994 and 1996.
A 43-0 reverse to France in round one extended their all-time record run of defeats to 13 matches.
It was their second heaviest loss in a Six Nations fixture behind a 54-10 loss to Ireland in 2002.
The French became the first team to nil Wales since Australia in June 2007 (31-0) and the first team to do so in the Five/Six Nations since France themselves in April 1998 (51-0).
Wales' last victory was a 43-19 Rugby World Cup triumph over Georgia in October 2023.
