Captain Matthew Rees insists Wales can still win the Six Nations despite their unconvincing win over Italy in Rome.
Welsh skipper says team still eyeing up Six Nations crown
Wales captain Matthew Rees insisted that they can still win the RBS Six Nations despite the unconvincing manner of their 24-16 victory against Italy in Rome.
Both sides scored two tries and both had one disallowed in an entertaining battle but one that was riddled with errors from both teams.
Wales dominated the first half but failed to make the most of their chances, although they were still more clinical that Italy, especially in the kicking game as the Azzurri wasted any chance of victory by missing penalties.
Welsh skipper Rees praised their defence for withstanding some fierce Italian pressure in the second half, and fully believes their championship challenge is still going strong.
The 30-year-old, who has 45 caps for Wales, feels that with two wins on the bounce they are right back in the race for the trophy.
Defence
"It was a very tough match but our defence was great," said Rees. "It was our defence who kept the Italians out of the game.
"We can definitely win the title. That is two wins on the trot and we have a home game to come against Ireland and then round it off with a huge match against France in Paris."
Wales head coach Warren Gatland was happy with his side's performance in what he believes is a tough place to come and play.
"This is a tough place to come to and get a result," said Gatland. "We made it difficult for ourselves in that we conceded a couple of soft tries, but we are very pleased with the result.
"We looked really sharp with the ball in hand at times, although we could have
expressed ourselves a bit more in the second-half. Italy are a big physical side, but they played a lot more rugby today and showed how difficult a team they are to beat in Rome.
"They missed a couple of shots at goal, but credit to our guys. They soaked up
a lot of pressure and then went upfield and got three points through the drop-goal. Ireland struggled here a few weeks ago, and this game has been a real banana skin for us in the past."
Mallett proud
Italy's South African coach Nick Mallett acknowledged his side gave their very best, but admitted they fell short of being good enough to win the game.
"We weren't good enough to win but we gave everything, we gave 100 percent on the pitch," Mallett said.
"(Alessandro) Zanni came close to scoring a try and we missed four kicks but at the end we were dominating.
"In the second half we spent 40 minutes in their half, they had two or three chances in our territory when we lost the ball but the players have shown they're able to compete with the best in the Six Nations."
