Wales coach in tears after avoiding dreaded whitewash in Six Nations

Wales 22 Italy 20

Ioan Cunningham was in tears with his head in his hands at the end of the game after seeing his Welsh side finally stave off a dreaded Six Nations whitewash with a 78th minute try from Sisilia Tuipulotu.

The pressure had never been greater for head coach Cunningham and his side given the final game of the Championship was the first stand alone international the team had played at Principality Stadium.

A record crowd of 10,592 turned out to support the team and they were kept on the edge of their seats before finally being able to heave a very heavy sigh of relief with a last-gasp try at the posts that allowed Lleucu George to redeem herself for a potential matchwinning penalty miss against Scotland with a point blank conversion.

The final whistle may have sent Cunningham into floods of tears, but that was nothing compared to the dousing he got from the team when giving a post match interview. His ice bucket drenching showed the relief felt all round.

It also gave Welsh rugby something to smile about after five defeats in the men’s Six Nations and then four on the trot for the women. The victory wasn’t enough to stop them from finishing bottom of the table, while defeat stopped the Italians from moving up to third.

After last weekend’s 40-0 drubbing by France, Cunningham characterised his squad as “professional players with ‘L Plates’. Last season they passed their theory test with flying colours, finishing third with three wins and qualifying for WXV 1, but the practical test has proved a bit trickier to pass a year on.

“That win meant a lot. We aren’t a bad team, it’s just that things haven’t been happening for us, but we will get there,” said Cunningham.

“We have been through some tough times together this year and I was just delighted with the way they stayed in the contest. There I character in abundance in this side and that shone through.

“We can build on this now, more forward with a positive mind set. So much work, energy and effort has gone into this campaign and days like this make it all worthwhile.”

Cunningham will now have to prepare his team for a play-off game against Spain at the end of June to find out who will go into WXV2 in the autumn. Whoever wins that will join the teams ranked fourth and fifth in the Six Nations.

The Welsh pack had been given a vote of confidence for the game after their performance against the French and all three tries came from the front row. Hooker Carys Phillips moved into fourth place on the Welsh all-time scoring list with her 17th try as she grabbed the lead in the 16th minute with a cheeky try around the front of a five metre line-out.

The celebrations didn’t last long as Hannah Bluck was robbed of the ball from the re-start, and wing Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi finished with a flourish from 30 metres. Better still, centre Betrice Rigoni converted off the touchline to edge the Italians ahead.

A Rigoni penalty was the only other score of a frustrating and error strewn first half for both teams. Wale sta least started the second half with a bang as Gwenllian Pyrs barged her way over from close range for a score that Keira Bevan improved.

Bevan then added a penalty before the Italians hit back to level with a try from replacement Francesca Granzotto and then hit the front with 10 minutes to go with a third try from outside half Emma Stevanin.

No it was test of character and desire for the Welsh team and they passed with flying colours thanks to Tuipulotu’s matchwinning score.

Match details

Wales: J Hesketh; L Neumann, H Jones (captain), H Bluck, C Cox; L George, K Bevan (S Jones 74); G Pyrs (Rose 68), C Phillips (K Jones 61), S Tuipulotu, N John (Williams 58), A Fleming (Hopkins 71), A Butchers, A Callender, G Evans
Replacements unused: A Constable, N Terry, N Metcalfe
Italy: B Capomaggi (Granzotto 51); A Muzzo, A D’Inca, B Rigoni, V Ostuni Minuzzi; E Stevanin, S Stefan; S Turani, V Vecchini, S Seye (Gai 41), S Tounesi (Fedrighi 60), G Duca, I Arrighetti, F Sgorbini (Locatelli 74), E Giordano (captain)
Replacements: L Gurioli, G Maris, B Veronese, V Madia, F Granzotto
Scoring sequence: 5-0 Phillips try, 5-5 Ostuni Minuzzi try, 5-7 Rigoni con, 5-10 Rigoni pen, 10-10 Pyrs try, 12-10 Bevan con, 15-10 Bevan, 15-15 Granzotto try, 15-20 Stevanin try, 20-20 Tuipulotu try, 22-20 George con
Yellow Card: Stevanin 79
Referee: A Barrett-Theron (South Africa)

Ireland qualify for World Cup after beating Scotland to finish third in Six Nations

By Sarah Mockford

Ireland 15 Italy 12

Ireland booked their place at next year’s Rugby World Cup by beating Scotland 15-12 in Belfast to secure third place in the Women’s Six Nations.

It is a remarkable turnaround for Ireland, who failed to qualify for the last World Cup, finished rock-bottom in last year’s championship table and were humbled 88-10 by England at Twickenham last weekend.

Yet a 75th-minute penalty from Dannah O’Brien proved crucial in a tight tussle against Scotland and the victory also means Scott Bemand’s side will play in WXV1, the top tier of World Rugby’s annual international women’s tournament, later this year in Canada.

Scotland led 5-0 after nine minutes as Elis Martin grounded the ball from a powerful driving maul, but Ireland then dominated for much of the first half, albeit they could not get any points on the board. They were clinical after the break, however, capitalising when the Scots fumbled a cross-field kick to set up a try for Katie Corrigan.