Ahead of what is widely regarded as the Wooden Spoon decider this Saturday between Italy and Wales in Rome, the hosts already have the upper hand in terms of their injury toll from round one.
From the XV that started in Paris in a bruising curtain raiser against France in round one, three Welshmen have already emerged as doubts. Aaron Wainwright only managed a matter of minutes before succumbing to a facial injury, centre Owen Watkin did not last much longer before a knee injury cut his match short, and thought full-back Liam Williams completed the game, Warren Gatland has since revealed he has an issue with his knee.
Wainwright and Williams could well still feature at the Stadio Olimpico, but Watkins’ inclusion seems highly unlikely as he undergoes further assessment this week.
Conversely, Gonzalo Quesada’s legion have returned from their 31-19 defeat in Edinburgh relatively unscathed.
In an injury update provided on Monday, Italy confirmed that the only concern they have is substitute wing Simone Gesi, who received a bang to the knee in the closing stages of his 13-minute cameo. The 23-year-old will be re-evaluated later this week to see if can face a Wales side who have lost their last 13 Test matches.
Quesada has described the meeting with Wales as “a match that everyone is waiting for,” as the Azzurri look to replicate their victory in Cardiff in 2024.
“We need to continue spending time together, working harder, but we still came close to playing a great match this afternoon,” he said after the Scotland defeat.
“It’s a defeat that hurts because we conceded a few easy points in the first match on situations that we are easily able to defend effectively, now we immediately start to concentrate on the match on Saturday in Rome against Wales, a very intense and demanding week awaits us, it’s a match that everyone is waiting for but the reality for us is that we will prepare for it in the best possible way, as we always prepare for all our matches.”
