Morale-boosting finish to Wayne's annus horribilis

SO that’s the end of 2020 for Wales. I think most people will be glad to see the back of this year after it has been dominated by Covid-19 and I’m sure Wayne Pivac and his team will feel the same.

- SHANE WILLIAMS

It has been a very disappointing 12 months and my hope is that not only the health of the nation but also the wellbeing of the team will improve dramatically in 2021.

With the coronavirus vaccine around the corner, we will hopefully see fans back in stadiums for the Six Nations. By the same token, Wales as a team also needs a shot in the arm.

It was a morale-boosting way to finish with a win over Italy. Losing was not an option as the Azzurri are no great shakes. Wales did the job and now they need to take that form and momentum into the Six Nations which will arrive very quickly once Christmas and New Year is done.

At one stage I was very worried about the Italy game, especially when they went ahead in the second half. All those memories of losing to the Azzurri in 2007 started coming back... that was certainly one to forget!

In the end, Wales did enough and we have to hand plaudits for the win to Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau who were just brilliant. They are world-class rugby players – we all know that – and they certainly delivered against the Italians.

Wales have struggled this autumn – you can’t get away from that – but part of the reason they have done so, in my opinion, is because their experienced players have either not been fully fit or not firing on all cylinders.

It was no coincidence for me that Wales ended up with a decent enough win against Italy because the likes of Justin, Taulupe, George North and Tomas Francis all had excellent games.

I was really disappointed to see Johnny Williams pull out at the 11th hour with a hamstring injury. For me, Johnny has been the find of the autumn.

He is a powerful ball carrier who gets Wales over the gain line time and time again. He is my 12 for the start of the Six Nations.