Wales vs. Italy: Score and Reaction from 2016 Six Nations Round 5

Wales cemented a runners-up finish in the 2016 RBS Six Nations on Saturday after their backs ran rampant to demolish Wooden Spoon winners Italy 67-14 at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

Head coach Warren Gatland watched as Wales recorded a strong finish to this year's tournament and dispatched the Azzurri with a nine-try performance. Rhys Webb, Dan Biggar, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North, Liam Williams, Ross Moriarty and Gareth Davies all got on the board for Wales, while Guglielmo Palazzani and Gonzalo Garcia grabbed consolation tries for the guests.

Injured captain Sam Warburton was absent on Saturday, and the hosts were rocked when stand-in openside Justin Tipuric was forced off with a head injury, but Wales ultimately had too much depth in quality for Italy. 

Balls.ie highlighted what a poor note this was for coach Jacques Brunel to finish his Italy tenure upon:

The visitors were fairly unfortunate to concede as early as four minutes in, considering Wales had two players three or so yards offside as Biggar chipped ahead to apply pressure leading up to Webb's opener.

The fit-again scrum-half, starting in place of Gareth Davies, was most alert as he bundled over for a sharp finish, and ESPN's Martyn Thomas noted the joy Gatland's No. 9 undoubtedly felt on making his comeback: 

What followed was a far less inspiring period for the hosts, however, and two Biggar penalties were all they had to show for their work over the next 20 minutes, despite threatening the Italy line on a regular basis.

The Azzurri's hopes of mounting a revival were deeply hurt, too when scrum-half Palazzani was shown a yellow card for obstructing Wales counterpart Webb after the playmaker had taken a quick penalty five metres from the visitors' line.

Italy almost made it back to 15 men having failed to concede a try during Palazzani's spell in the bin, but Biggar timed a 28th-minute break to perfection, exchanging a one-two with Roberts before soaring over for Wales' second score.

That try cranked open the floodgates, as George North breezed down the right flank just minutes later before the backs looped the ball back infield for centre Davies to finish under the posts for a length-of-the-field score:

Any hopes of an Italian comeback appeared slim to none after going in at the interval 27-0 down, and after playing such a fundamental role in some of his side's earlier buildup, Roberts got on the scoresheet just five minutes after the restart.

Wales' backs were proving particularly effective in pulling their Italian opponents to and fro from flank to flank, with the hosts able to express their attacking potential in a way that hasn't always been evident in the competition.

Roberts in particular has perhaps been their star of the tournament, and rugby writer Brendan Gallagher was in awe of the Harlequins midfielder:

Full-back David Odiete weaved a dazzling run deep into Welsh territory with just over half-an-hour remaining, but his wayward pass meant the passage of play eventually fell down with the guests still scoreless.

North was next to expose the gaping holes in the Italian defence, and a simply orchestrated manoeuvre opened up the space he needed to sprint in for a 40-metre try, much to the pleasure of the Welsh Rugby Union:

Italy were making breaks of their own, but a failure to cope with pressure in the enemy 22 saw any attempt on Wales' line fall apart by their own doing. That was until they took a more direct route in the 53rd minute, and Palazzani got on the end of a mauling move to finally break the Italians' drought in Cardiff.

Williams was next to exploit the opponent's back-line shortcomings, and he left the Azzurri speedsters scarpering to get back in time to stop his sprint down the left side, but it was a futile effort as the Scarlets star piled on the points wagon:

Zebre centre Garcia followed up Palazzani's try with a fine finish of his own following a terrific Tommaso Allan offload, but substitute Moriarty returned just three minutes later to once again put the hosts on the front foot.

An error-ridden final quarter saw Italy's handling errors rocket, and Brunel's tired-looking underdogs struggled to put up much of a fight against a Welsh lineup full of players with points to prove.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

As if Warburton, Tipuric and Dan Lydiate didn't offer enough elite back-row options for Wales, Moriarty put his hand up for further inclusion by taking a quick tap to seal Italy's misery with a second score in the final minute.

Substitute Gareth Davies, on in the place of Webb, completed a record win in added time as Wales chose to play to the final whistle and further demonstrate their superiority over minnow opposition. It was Wales' biggest points total in a championship game in Cardiff, according to the BBC. 

For Italy, this was yet another display that might support some who question their participation in the Six Nations after falling painfully short in Cardiff. Wales, on the other hand, will accept a second-placed finish and look forward to this summer's tour of New Zealand with plenty of promise afoot.