Wales will try to stop a record eight-Test match losing streak when they face Italy in their final Women's 6 Nations game on Sunday, 17 May, at Cardiff Arms Park. Kick-off is at 12:15 BST, and Italy arrive in Cardiff as favourites.
It is the fourth successive Championship in which Wales and Italy have met on the final weekend, and the third time Wales have done so while trying to avoid a clean sweep of defeats. Wales beat Italy in Cardiff in 2023 with a last-minute try from Sisilia Tuipulotu, but they lost the fixture in 2024 and 2025 and finished with consecutive Wooden Spoons. This time, the stakes are even starker: Wales have never lost eight matches in a row since their first recorded match in 1987.
That history matters because Wales have been here before, just not quite like this. Between 1987 and 1993, they went 14 matches without a win, but a draw broke up that streak. The current run is different because there has been no release valve. Sean Lynn has not won a Six Nations match since taking charge in early 2025, and a 10th loss in the competition would also mean a ninth defeat in a row in all Tests.
Wales have already lost to Scotland, England, France and Ireland in this campaign, leaving them bottom-handed again when Italy come to town. On paper, the gap is not where it used to be. Italy are stronger now, and their status as favourites in Cardiff would once have sounded impossible in this fixture.
Bevan said the squad remain united behind Lynn, insisting the players are “100%” behind their head coach. That support will be tested on Sunday, because the numbers now define the story as much as the performance does. Wales are staring at the worst run in their 39-year Test history, and Italy are standing in the way of a record no side wants attached to its name.
The simplest way out is the hardest one: beat the team that has become the measuring stick for where Wales are now. If they do not, the losing streak becomes history on its own terms.
