Wales 47 Italy 16

Fly-half Neil Jenkins wrote himself into the record books as Wales romped to a 47-16 victory over newcomers Italy in the Six Nations championship match at the Millennium Stadium.

Jenkins slotted over seven penalties and three conversions as the Welsh, who ran in four tries, bounced back from their crushing 36-3 defeat by France here two weeks ago.  The Cardiff points-machine kicked a penalty after four minutes to become the highest points scorer in the history of the tournament, overtaking former Scottish full-back Gavin Hastings' record of 288.

The veteran British Lion was already the highest points-scorer in the history of international rugby.

The Welsh ran in four tries through number eight Scott Quinnell, centre Allan Bateman and teenage wing Shane Williams -- making his full debut -- and New Zealand-born full-back Shane Howarth, his fourth in 18 tests for his adoptive country.  Back row forward Wilhelmus Visser scored Italy's only try while Jenkins opposite number Diego Dominguez scored 11 points including two penalties, one conversion and one drop goal.

Italy, who stunned Scotland 34-20 in their championship debut in Rome two weeks ago, were no match for Graham Henry's rampant Welsh side who now tackle England at Twickenham in two weeks time.  Italy face Ireland in Dublin.

With Jenkins winning the kicking competition against Dominguez to give Wales an early 15-6 lead, Henry's side eventually got the try their growing domination deserved.

Lock Chris Wyatt collected from the line-out and found Craig Quinnell who flipped up a pass to his brother Scott who charged over from eight metres for his sixth try for Wales.

Jenkins missed the conversion and after Dominguez quickly reduced the deficit with a penalty, the Welshman responded with his sixth successful kick.

Wales killed off any realistic hopes of an Italian upset when they grabbed their second try just after the break.

Centre Mark Taylor took a quick free-kick and made the break before finding Williams, whose raw pace saw him surge clear for his maiden try for Wales.

Craig Quinnell, Peter Rogers and Gareth Thomas then combined to create a gap for veteran centre Bateman to claim his eighth try for his country.  Jenkins converted from the touchline as Wales began to run riot.

Shane Howarth completed Wales's record home victory over their opponents with a late try under the posts.  Jenkins converted again to take his match tally to 27 points.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Peter Rogers, 2 Garin Jenkins, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Craig Quinnell, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Geraint Lewis, 7 Brett Sinkinson, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Neil Jenkins, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Allan Bateman, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Shane Howarth
Reserves:  Ian Gough, Colin Charvis, Dafydd James, Spencer John, Stephen Jones, Barry Williams
Unused:  Richard Smith

Italy:  1 Massimo Cuttitta, 2 Alessandro Moscardi, 3 Tino Paoletti, 4 Andrea Gritti, 5 Giuseppe Lanzi, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Carlo Checchinato, 8 Wim Visser, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Luca Martin, 13 Marco Rivaro, 14 Cristian Stoica, 15 Matt Pini
Reserves:  Juan Francescio, Carlo Orlandi, Aaron Persico
Unused:  Laurent Travers, Matteo Mazzantini, Alejandro Moreno, Andrea Scanavacca

Attendance:  72500
Referee:  Ramage i

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Williams S.M. 1, Bateman A.G. 1, Howarth S.P. 1, Quinnell L.S. 1
Conv:  Jenkins N.R. 3
Pen K.:  Jenkins N.R. 7

Italy
Tries:  Visser W. 1
Conv:  Dominguez D. 1
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 2
Drop G.:  Dominguez D. 1