Wales 44 Italy 10

Wales rounded off their 2004 RBS Six Nations campaign with a resounding 44-10 win over Italy in Cardiff, wingers Rhys and Shane Williams grabbing two tries apiece in the victory.

With the home side scoring a total of six tries, it was a fitting send-off for outgoing Welsh coach Steve Hansen who, after two years in charge of the Dragons, is handing the reins over to successor Mike Ruddock to return to his native New Zealand.

It has certainly been an eventful time during his regime and Wales have much be to be thankful to the self-effacing Kiwi for, with plenty of positives flowing from his handling of the team.

While their set-piece still needs much attention -- here, as through much of this championship this area of their play badly misfiring, particularly at scrum-time -- the Welsh have found a unique style to base their play around, one centred on fast ball transfer and attacking, positive rugby.

Wales's intentions were clear from the outset of this match as they immediately went on the offensive, attempting to strike from deep against Italy, fly-half Stephen Jones and fit-again inside centre Iestyn Harris showing deft distribution skills to get the ball wide.

These tactics paid dividends in the opening quarter as the Italian defence crumbled under such intense pressure, the Azzurri forwards giving away a series of penalties to enable Wales to take an early lead through the boot of Stephen Jones, the No.10 slotting two kicks at goal in the 10th and 15th minutes.

Jones missed with an ambitious third attempt at goal after another Italian indiscretion in the 20th minute, but Wales were to make their first major breakthrough of the match a few moments later.

After another typical long-range attacking move, Wales found the Italian defence in disarray as Shane Williams streaked down the left-hand touchline.

Spurning the three men outside him in support, Williams decided to take on the Italian cover defence to stretch for the touchdown.  While it looked touch-and-go to the naked eye, the video ref duly awarded the try and Wales were on their way to a comprehensive victory.

Jones could not kick the tricky conversion, but Wales had their tails up after this early incursion and moments later there was another score for Williams -- this time of the Rhys variety -- the No.14 rounding off a superb blindside move started by livewire scrum-half Gareth Cooper from the base of the scrum.

The No.9 breached the first line of defence before finding fullback Gareth Thomas marauding up the right.  Thomas drew the defence and gave a perfect pass to Williams who stretched his legs and, avoiding the desperate tackle of Italian skipper Andrea De Rossi, touched down for his side's second try.

That made it 16-0 and Wales came close to stretching that lead even further just before the break, Mark Taylor coming desperately close to scoring in the left-hand corner, but crucially, just failing to put downward pressure on the ball.

The second half began much more promisingly for Italy, their forwards putting the squeeze on Wales in scrum and line-out to push the Dragons back into their own territory.

And, indeed, with fly-half Roland De Marigny kicking an early penalty for his side after a Welsh indiscretion at a ruck, an Italian revival looked in prospect, especially when Italy gained another kickable penalty three minutes later.

But De Marigny could not convert this second chance into points and that let-off seemed to galvanise the Welsh side who then produced a devastating flurry of points to secure the victory.

It was tireless fullback Gareth Thomas -- perhaps Wales' most consistent performer in this championship -- who put his side on the road to a certain win, slicing through after a defensive hole was conjured up by Harris.

That try puts him top of the all-time Welsh try-scorers' list -- overtaking former great Ieuan Evans -- and the crowd favourite was afforded a fitting ovation by the delighted Wales supporters.

Then, five minutes later, replacement Tom Shanklin -- having only just trotted out onto the pitch to take over from Harris -- took a magnificent line up the middle of the pitch to score on his first touch.

While Italy did at least have the consolation of scoring a try in the final quarter, Andrea Masi showing tremendous strength to touch down, Wales were not to be denied and finished off the match in style, those Williams boys -- Rhys and Shane -- demonstrated once more their superb finishing skills to score one more try apiece.

With the game in the bag, all that was left was for the crowd to bid farewell to Hansen who, on this showing, leaves a healthy legacy to his successor.

Man of the match:  Plenty of contenders for this honour -- not least wingers Rhys and Shane Williams and inspirational skipper Colin Charvis.  But for his deft distribution skills and fine tactical vision, we'll go for inside centre Iestyn Harris, who has emerged this season as a fully-fledged international Union player.

Moment of the match:  The ultimate team man, Gareth Thomas has long been a tower of strength for Wales through too many difficult years to mention and here, once again, produced an almost faultless performance -- not least his second-half try which put the game out of Italy's reach and propelled this servant of Welsh rugby to the top of his country's all-time try-scorers' list.

Villain of the match:  No crimes to report -- only minor misdemeanours in an encounter played in the best of spirits by both sides.  Instead, we'll point the finger at the Welsh Rugby Union for failing to organise a formal send-off for outgoing coach Steve Hansen at the end of the match.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Duncan Jones, 4 Michael Owen, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Colin Charvis (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Dafydd Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Rhys Williams, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Shane Williams, 15 Gareth Thomas
Reserves:  Mefin Davies, Dwayne Peel, Alix Popham, Tom Shanklin, Robert Sidoli, Ceri Sweeney, Ben Evans

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Santiago Dellape, 5 Carlo Del Fava, 6 Marco Bortolami, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Andrea De Rossi (c), 9 Paul Griffen, 10 Roland De Marigny, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Andrea Masi, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gonzalo Canale
Reserves:  Roberto Mandelli, Silvio Orlando, Simon Picone, Rima Wakarua-Noema, Mirco Bergamasco, Salvatore Perugini
Unused:  Carlo Festuccia

Attendance:  72500
Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Thomas G. 1, Williams G.R. 2, Williams S.M. 2, Shanklin T. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 4
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 2

Italy
Tries:  Masi A. 1
Conv:  Wakarua-Noema R. 1
Pen K.:  De Marigny R.J. 1