WALES UNDER-20 35 ITALY UNDER-20 6

CAPTAIN Tom Phillips and his Wales team became history makers tonight as they clinched their country’s first RBS 6 Nations title and Grand Slam at under-20 level.

Phillips lifted the championship trophy to the adulation of a jubilant home crowd at Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay after a strong second-half performance secured a 35-6 victory over a plucky Italian side.

Ebbw Vale number eight Harrison Keddie inspired coach Jason Strange’s men to victory with the first and last of their four tries.

But going on the first 40 minutes, hopes of a Grand Slam looked in serious doubt.

A shocking pass by fly-half Daniel Jones straight from the kick-off almost resulted in the visitors making a try-scoring start.

That Jones pass set the tone for the rest of the half with the hosts seeming to feel the pressure of the big occasion.

Scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams had a kick charged down, there were several knock-ons, and putting simple phases together proved a real problem.

Wales certainly didn’t look like the side that had put 42 points on England a week earlier when they clinched the Triple Crown.

In fairness to Italy, they were the better team in the opening period and unlucky not to be leading at the break.

Jones and Matteo Minozzi kicked two penalties each to make the half-time score 6-6 – Jones’ second was the last kick of the half.

If there were any nerves among the Wales players then whatever Strange and his staff said during the interval appeared to do the trick.

Jones slotted a third three-pointer seven minutes into the second half as the hosts began to play with a much higher tempo.

And within 13 minutes the Grand Slam was secured.

The game’s first try arrived on 53 minutes when Keddie piled over from close range after a period of sustained Welsh pressure.

A dangerous tackle on Harri Millard saw prop Daniele Rimpelli sent to the sin bin – and that really broke Italy’s resolve.

Try number two went to flanker Shaun Evans a minute after Rimpelli left the field, while winger Joe Thomas had the simplest of tasks as he touched down out wide to stretch the lead to 28-6.

Jones added his third conversion just to compound Italy’s misery.

And in a campaign which has been so much about the squad as a whole, all of the Wales replacements were brought on to fully savour the moment.

There was still time left for a fourth Wales try to put the icing on the Grand Slam cake, Keddie getting his second of the night to make the scoreline even more emphatic.

Wales: R Williams, J Thomas, H Millard, O Watkin, K Giles, D Jones, R Morgan-Williams; C Domachowski, D Hughes, D Lewis, S Lewis-Hughes, A Beard, T Phillips (captain), S Evans, H Keddie. Replacements: I Phillips, R Fawcett, L Brown, B Morgan, M Sieniawski, D Smith, B McBryde, J Gage.