Wales gear up for Italy showdown

With few expecting Wales to emerge with anything from their final pool game against New Zealand next weekend, this was it – a showdown with Italy for a place in the last eight of the World Cup.

For Wales to miss out on the quarter-finals in a group which included the Azzurri, Canada and Tonga would be little short of a sporting disaster for a nation who only 16 years ago finished third at the inaugural World Cup.