Italy vs. Wales: Winners and Losers from 2015 6 Nations Clash

Wales left England and Ireland with it all to do to deny them the 2015 Six Nations title.

Warren Gatland’s men obliterated Italy 61-20 in a stunning second half in Rome with seven second-half tries.

They led by just a single point at half-time after Jamie Roberts’ try but exploded into life after the break, helped by a George North hat-trick and an implosion from the home side who had no answer to the expansive attacking game Wales turned to.

From a vastly inferior points difference before kick-off, the 2013 champions gave themselves every chance of reclaiming their crown, presenting England and Ireland with 17-and 21-point margins of victory to secure, respectively, to overhaul them.

Here are the winners and losers from Rome.

Poor old Kelly Haimona.

He was in the way when Jamie Roberts made his first charge of the game inside five minutes, and that was that.

The Italian No. 10 went down clutching his forearm and his afternoon was at an early end.

Halfpenny did suffer a nasty-looking concussion that forced his afternoon to be cut short, but his performance before that was so good that he earned his spot as a winner today.

Halfpenny kicking goals from anywhere in the opposition half has become a fait accompli as soon as the ref’s whistle blows these days.

But he underlined another wonderful part of his skill set with a deft dab behind the Italian defence for Jamie Roberts to score a 21st-minute try in Rome. Pure class.

Biggar took on the goal-kicking duties from Halfpenny and freed Wales’ backs to cut loose in the second half, enabling them to chase the kind of points total that gave them a chance of winning the title.

He has had a superb Six Nations.

A hat-trick from the British and Irish Lion that combined an easy run in, a well-taken one-on-one and a powerful burst up the middle with a step for good measure.

Italy had no answer to him once the game had opened up.

No player sits comfortably on the bench while he waits to see how much damage the opposition can do as he serves out his sin binning.

But Andrea Masi must have wanted the ground to swallow him up during his 10-minute rest.

George North scored two more tries while the Wasps man sat it out.

The home side’s discipline disappeared off the face of the earth in the second half, infringing at the scrum and lineout—two areas they were strong in during the first period.

They couldn’t cope with the increased Welsh tempo and shipped two yellow cards as they got swamped by the red tide. Not the best way to endear themselves to a bumper Roman crowd.