Preview: Wales vs. Italy - prediction team news, lineups

Wales welcome Italy to the Principality Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the final round of this year's Six Nations Championships.

Steve Tandy's men were narrowly beaten by Ireland in their previous match, while Gonzalo Quesada's side claimed a historic 23-18 win against England at the Stadio Olimpico.

Match preview

As many expected before the opening weekend, Wales look set to finish bottom of the Six Nations table for the third successive year.

Although they have been much improved over their previous two matches, narrowly losing to both Scotland and Ireland, Wales have won only one point this campaign and have tasted defeat in each of their previous 15 Six Nations matches, dating back to a 29-17 win against Saturday’s opponents in Rome over three years ago.

If they want any chance of avoiding a last place finish, Wales will need to put a significant score on Italy this Saturday afternoon and hope that France can do the exact same in the evening against England.

However, after winning nine consecutive home matches against Saturday's opponents, Wales have lost their previous two at the Principality Stadium against Quesada's men and will need to be at their very best if they are to take anything from a revitalised Italian side this weekend.

© Iconsport / PA Images

Whatever happens in their final game, Italy have without a doubt had their best Six Nations campaign since 2014, when they finished the tournament in fourth. 

Quesada's side started the tournament off with a bang by beating Scotland in Rome on the opening weekend and after losing to both Ireland and France, overcame England for the first time in their history at the Stadio Olympico last weekend to move into fourth place in the table.

If they were to claim a bonus point victory on Saturday and Ireland lost to Scotland without claiming any extras, there is a possibility that Italy could finish the tournament in third and claim three wins in a single Six Nations campaign for the first time ever .

Having beaten Wales in the previous three meetings between the sides, they will certainly be confident that they can claim another victory this weekend against the Dragons, who have struggled once again this year.

Wales Six Nations form:

Italy Six Nations form:

Team News

© Iconsport / SUSA

Wales' pack is unchanged from the cagey encounter with Ireland last weekend, with Dewi Lake captaining the side from hooker and Rhys Carre starting after scoring an exhilarating try in Dublin.

Tandy has also opted to keep the same backline, as Louis Rees-Zammit features at full back once again and Dan Edwards keeps his place at fly half.

Quesada has made a couple of changes to the scrum that started against England last weekend as Muhamed Hasa and Federico Ruzza replace Andrea Zambonin and the injured Simone Ferrari.

There is only one difference to the Italy backline which comes at scrum half as Alessandro Fusco is preferred to Alessandro Garbisi.

Exeter Chiefs scrum half Stephen Varney has also recovered from an adductor injury to feature in the Italian squad for the first time in this year's tournament.

Wales starting lineup:

15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Dewi Lake, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 5 Ben Carter, 6 Alex Mann, 7 James Botham, 8 Aaron Wainwright

Replacements:

16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blair Murray

Italy starting lineup:

15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Muhamed Hasa, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza, 6 Michele Lamaro, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone

Replacements:

16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 David Odiase, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan

We say: Wales 12-20 Italy

Gradually improving as the tournament rumbles on, this is without a doubt the best chance that Wales have had to win a match in this year's Six Nations.

However, we think Italy will continue their outstanding campaign and sit alongside either Ireland or Scotland with three wins in this year's competition.