This is one WXV game you might wish wasn’t taking place. After all, the two teams meet every year in the Six Nations, but the tournament’s structures aren’t yet perfect.
The head coaches have announced their squads:
Italy:
15 Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi 14 Aura Muzzo 13 Michela Sillari 12 Beatrice Rigoni 11 Francesca Grantzotto 10 Emma Stevanin 9 Sofia Stefan 1 Silvia Turani 2 Vittoria Vecchini 3 Sara Seye 4 Valeria Fedrighi 5 Giordana Duca 6 Sara Tounesi 7 Francesca Sgorbini 8 Elisa Giordano (captain)
16 Laura Gurioli 17 Emanuela Stecca 18 Vittoria Zanette 19 Alessandra Frangipani 20 Alissa Ranuccini 21 Beatrice Veronese 22 Sara Mannini 23 Beatrice Capomaggi
Wales:
15 Jasmine Joyce 14 Carys Cox 13 Hannah Jones (captain) 12 Kerin Lake 11 Nel Metcalfe 10 Lleucu George 9 Keira Bevan 1 Gwenllian Pyrs 2 Carys Phillips 3 Donna Rose 4 Natalia John 5 Georgia Evans 6 Alisha Butchers 7 Alex Callender 8 Bethan Lewis
16 Molly Reardon 17 Maisie Davies 18 Sisilia Tuipulotu 19 Alaw Pyrs 20 Kate Williams 21 Sian Jones 22 Kayleigh Powell 23 Courtney Keight
Both Nanni Raineri and Ioan Cunningham have to make the best use of limited resources. Working out the most profitable combinations is a central challenge. One answer is to bring younger talent into their 23s: Cunningham names three on the bench: Reardon, Davies and the younger Pyrs.
Wales
One of his major problems is with the pack; far too many are required to play out of their prime positions. Georgia Evans would be better placed in the back row, and the three nominated there are really all flankers. A lack of size and power in the back five has long been a weakness of the set-up. They deserve their caps; it’s just that the parts don’t add up to a whole that can be sure of dominating the opposition.
That was shown in the devastating second half against Australia; the Welsh leaked 27 points.
The good news is that Sisilia Tuipulotu has at last been allowed to arrive in South Africa after unexplained problems with her visa. That sounds like a return to the glitch-filled ways of the WRU. She starts on the bench.
Hannah Jones also reappears as captain. More than one voice from home reckons it’s time she showed her true qualities at 13. Carys Cox moves out to the wing to make room for her. Wales’ inability to move the ball wide rapidly and often has been a constant weakness in their play. Even Jasmine Joyce, always picked out as the star turn, has enjoyed muted games over the last year or two. Now she finds herself at 15 in place of Jenny Hesketh.
Welsh fans will be relieved if the team can nail their tackles this time. Last week’s stats revealed a horrifying weakness.
Italy
Raineri has made five changes. At last Michela Sillari can take her place at 13 after having had her leg broken by a tackle that cost Sarah Beckett a red card. She is very much the calm leader of the back-line, a necessary counterpoint to Beatrice Rigoni’s unpredictability.
Raineri was concerned by his team’s line-out work. Vittoria Vecchini returns as hooker and Valeria Fedrighi replaces Sara Tounesi at lock, allowing Tounesi to rejoin the back-row.
The line-out is becoming an ever more central part of rugby’s attacking options. The favoured sequence is: kick to the corner, clean catch and unstoppable drive. Raineri is keen to avoid giving Cymru that advantage.
To do so, he takes the risk of a 6/2 split between forwards and backs. Its perils hardly need explaining. Alissa Ranuccini becomes the extra forward; Sara Mannini and Beatrice Capomaggi the sole replacement backs.
An unpredictable game
Both sides suffered unwelcome reverses last week, so will be anxious to rectify faults as they build towards the World Cup.
I still have grave doubts about the quality of the Welsh back-line coaching staff. I hope for the players’ sake my misgivings are proved false. When I see the threes operating smoothly and with variations, I’ll know they are on the right track. Placing Joyce at 15 offers them all sorts of juicy ploys; can they exploit them?
Just for the record: in the third and final round Wales will meet Japan, Italy face the hosts, South Africa. The results there will tell us more about the two teams than the coming match.
Details:
Date: Friday 4 Otober
Kick-off: 16.00 local time; 15.00 BST
Venue: Athlone Sports Stadium, Cape Town
Coverage: in the UK, BBC iPlayer; elsewhere rugbypass.tv
