No, it wasn't a very early April Fool - Justin Marshall really did play 80 minutes at full-back for the Ospreys!A weekend off for the Six Nations, and that always feels weird. I was at the Liberty Stadium to watch the "Ospreys - Welsh Squad Members + Mike Phillips" stick a hatful on hapless Connacht. The outrageous Marshall ploy signaled either supreme confidence, or desperation. Fortunately for Marshall and Lyn Jones, it didn't really matter as the visitors lacked any idea of how to exploit the situation. Although they deserve some credit for trying to run the ball and not just kicking for territory, in truth they were fairly clueless with it, and their last-minute consolation try was simply due to the Ospreys unforgivably relaxing at a close-range penalty. Another "nil" would have been a welcome tonic, too... grrr...
After only needing second gear to see off an abject Scotland side, Wales look to the prospect of Italy' visit with confidence tempered by nervous caution - remembering that we haven't beaten the Azzurri since 2005. It is to be hoped that precise timekeeping will be unimportant - but just in case, perhaps the Millennium Stadium scoreboards should show the time remaining in a super-large font?
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