CARDIFF, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy ended their Six Nations campaign proud of the progress made but frustrated that a poor display against Wales on Saturday denied them the chance to seal their best‑ever tournament.
Italy arrived in Cardiff on the back of a first-ever victory over England, and after beating Scotland in their opening match they had the chance to win three games in a single campaign for the first time.
Instead, Wales ended a run of 15 successive Six Nations defeats with a 31-17 win as Italy appeared to run out of steam, despite a late rally having found themselves 31-0 down.
"Maybe today, Wales having one more recovery day had an impact, but mentally they were stronger than us too," Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada told reporters.
"It could have gone much worse for us, but we fought, and with more precision in the first half we might have got even closer on the scoreboard.
"I hold on to the last 40 minutes today, to the attitude we showed in the second half despite the difficulties. We need to keep our feet on the ground and be aware of how good our tournament has been."
After the euphoria of a week ago in Rome, the comedown in Cardiff was hard to take.
"It's difficult right now, in the heat of the moment, to make a full assessment," captain Michele Lamaro said.
"Maybe in a few days we'll have a clearer picture of what we've done.
"You don't get many chances in life to reach a goal like this, and ours was to produce Italy's best-ever Six Nations. We reached the final match knowing it was still possible."
Italy have made great strides under Quesada, earning two wins and a draw in his first Six Nations in 2024, and had set their sights even higher this time around.
"It was an ambitious goal, but this team can afford to set ambitious goals, to set the bar high," Lamaro said.
"I feel very frustrated about today's match, even though Wales played well, approached it well, scored when they needed to and took everything they could from the game.
"We had an opportunity to complete our objective and we let it slip because of some shortcomings during the match. In a few weeks I'll realise how good a Six Nations we had."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)
