Six Nations: Wales claim wooden spoon despite 22-20 Italy win in front of record home crowd

  • Fans share excitement ahead of Wales' wooden spoon decider against Italy in Cardiff

Wales have finished bottom of the 2024 Six Nations, claiming the wooden spoon, despite a 22-20 victory over Italy in their final game of the tournament.

A last minute try at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, gave Ioan Cunningham's side their first win of the campaign after four successive losses.

Wales' men picked up their first wooden spoon in 21 years after suffering a 24-21 defeat to Italy in Cardiff last month.

A difficult tournament for the women ended with another silver lining after they played in front of a record crowd in a stand-alone home Test match.

Almost 10,000 tickets were sold in advance of the final round clash with overall attendance reaching 10,592.

The previous record of 8,862 was set last year in a Cardiff Arms Park clash with England.

Since then, Wales have welcomed Scotland in their first round match this season in front a 5,965 and France, in round four, in front of 5,786, breaking the records for each fixture on home soil.

Wales did not play to a sold out crowd on Saturday with the Principality Stadium boasting 74,500 seats, but fans attending the game said crowds will grow if the women continue to play there.

"If you give the girls an opportunity to play in these stadiums they're going to keep filling them more and more," one fan told ITV Wales before the match.

Wales players sing their national anthem ahead of their Six Nations match against England at Ashton Gate, Bristol, in March. Credit: PA Images

Speaking before the game, captain Hannah Jones said: "The fans have really stuck with us and that has been so important to us.

"This is when we need them most, when we need their support because these are tough times."Losing hurts us and we want to put that right and we are determined to do so against Italy this weekend, for ourselves, but also for your loyal and vocal fans."It is so uplifting to see the young girls in the crowd, to hear the voices during our matches and to see them waiting in the stands afterwards to support us, no matter what the result."We know the fans are right behind us every step of the way and it makes such a difference to us."

In the 2018 Six Nations Wales faced Italy in a double-header event alongside a senior men's international, also against Italy, and the official attendance given that day was 11,062.

The record for any senior women's home game is the non-Test against the Barbarians in 2019 - also a double-header - which was watched by 12,600 supporters.

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