“It’s simply not good enough – I don’t know where we go from here. So many facets of the game weren’t good enough,” said Biggar. “It was so poor. We haven’t played well all but to not finish it off when they are 70 metres from their own line was disappointing.
“What we said in the huddle after the game is it’s probably the last chance for a lot of players. I don’t know what the answer is.
“Too many boys were not quite up to speed. We were second to any loose ball, second to any ball in the air. It’s just really disappointing.
“We pride ourselves on doing stuff that requires no talent well. We were well short and that’s got to be looked at very closely.”
You had to go back to 2015 for the last time the Azzurri had won a Six Nations game. But when their new star Ange Capuozzo opened up the Welsh defence in the dying moments to lay on a never-to-be-forgotten try for Eduardo Padovani their long wait was brought to an end.
It has been a miserable period for Italian rugby, leading to some people saying that aren’t good enough to remain in the tournament, but they have something really positive to build on.
“I am really proud. We had a bit of sickness in the camp during the week and the players were out on their feet in the last 30 minutes, but they just dug in,” said Italian head coach Kieran Crowley.
“They kept playing, kept believing and their defence was outstanding. Now people won’t be able to say we’ve lost 37 in a row. There were a few tears in my eyes at the end because there was a lot of emotion.
“You’d think we’ve won the World Cup, but they’ve got to enjoy this because they are a young team that needs to learn how to win. They’ve done that today.
“This gives us a base going forward, although one game doesn’t make a team. We have got to build on what we’ve done here.”
Wales wing Josh Adams was named as the Man of the Match for two amazing moments – a try saving tackle on Monty Ioane and his own score. But in an act of superb sportsmanship he handed his medal to Capuozzo as a mark of respect for his matchwinning performance.
Had Irish referee Andrew Brace awarded a try to Wales replacement prop Wyn Jones in the second half after he went over the line, but was adjudged to have been held up, perhaps things might have been different for Wales.
“I think we were a little bit unlucky on the try. Wyn thinks he scored it when it’s gone to the TMO,” said Biggar.
Head coach Wayne Pivac was another who didn’t sugar-coat the performance and result.
“We conceded 12 points through ill-discipline which wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game,” he said. “We just weren’t accurate enough. To get back in the lead and then to throw it away at the end after not taking several opportunities was very disappointing.
“We had numerous opportunities and a mixture of some strong defence from Italy and errors from ourselves meant we weren’t able to get across the line.
“Ultimately it was part of our downfall.”
