Now all Welsh eyes turn to Dublin in a fortnight, and hopes not only of a Triple Crown but the penultimate step towards the second Wales Grand Slam in four years. After this third win in three matches, there is no question that, under the tutelage of Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards, Wales have built up a head of steam – and will take some stopping.

However, given that Italy had given Wales a run for their money in the first half, the final scoreline here was brutal, with Wales almost scoring at will after the break against a disintegrating Italian defence to record a five-try win. You still sense that, for all the new-found Welsh fervour, they are far from unstop-pable, not least because Italy’s bruising pack did enough before the break to indicate that the Welsh forwards could be vulnerable if dragged into a street fight. They need to hit the rucks in numbers and give Martyn Williams more support at the breakdown.

What cannot be disputed is that Wales have a ruthlessness and swiftness about their finishing which Italy were unable to blunt. A hallmark of Gatland and Edwards is that their teams put points on the board given the slightest sniff – and Wales do the same, irrespective of frequent dips in intensity that their coaches will be less happy with.

Italy also paid a heavy price for their failure to find a true fly-half to complement their pack. Andrea Masi is a battler of a centre, but expecting him to become a Test-class fly-half overnight is a demand too far. Having kept Wales in their sights at 13-8, Italy fell apart after Masi’s telegraphed long pass was intercepted by Tom Shanklin immediately after the break. Stephen Jones’s conversion gave Wales a 20-8 platform from which to launch an assault that completely overwhelmed the visitors.

With Wales given an injection of energy around the fringes with the introduction of Mike Phillips, they filleted the Italians, giving full rein to the running and handling skills that Gatland has been talking up since he arrived in the Principality. They scored their third try when Jones crowned an impressive display by sucking in three defenders to put Shane Williams clear. He rounded off his handiwork by converting for a 33-8 lead.

Wales finished off Italy when Lee Byrne scored his second try by bursting between two defenders to run in from halfway, and Williams completed his brace after cutting through the middle to beat Alberto Sgarbi and Gonzalo Canale for pace.

Gatland warned that this would be a bruising encounter, and initially Italy did not disappoint. What would have upset him was that Italy, whose kicking game had been virtually nonexistent in the first two rounds of the championship, showed few early nerves in that department, with Masi looking as if he had benefited from a crash course in kicking skills. Nevertheless, Wales took an early lead with two Jones penalties.

Masi then found touch 10 metres from the Welsh line to put the heat on Matthew Rees. The hooker responded with the sort of overthrow that might have won him an Olympic javelin gold. When the ball flew over the outstretched arms of Ian Evans in the middle of the line-out, it was gratefully collected by Martin Castrogiovanni at the tail and the stampeding tighthead brushed off the tackles of the Welsh half-backs to score. Italy were back in it at 6-5.

They squandered a gilt-edged chance to take the initiative midway through the half. Sergio Parisse delivered immaculate lin-eout ball and Mauro Bergamasco dummied before finding Ezio Galon with a pinpoint pass as the left-wing speared through the heart of the Welsh midfield. However, with Wales’s defence bamboozled and the line begging, Canale failed to hold Galon’s pass. It was an awful howler.

The momentum of the match then swung in favour of Wales. It began when Shane Williams wriggled free on the left and Rees took the ball to within five metres of the line. When Italy were penalised for offside, Williams took a quick tap, only for he and Gethin Jenkins to be halted in front of the posts. However, with the Italian defence overcommitted in the middle, Gavin Henson sent a long pass to the right for Byrne to score.

Four minutes from the interval, Andrea Marcato counter-at-tacked beautifully from his own half for Masi and Mirco Bergamasco to carry play deep into Wales territory before the move petered out. However, Italy kept pressing and Martyn Williams was fortunate not to be yellow-carded after he killed a driving maul as it rumbled towards the Welsh line. Marcato stroked over the penalty to give the Azzurri everything to play for after the break.

Wales extinguished that hope in ruthless fashion and now Gatland’s next challenge – and perhaps the greatest of his short and spectacular coaching tenure – is to keep Welsh expectations in check as we come to the business end of the Six Nations.

Star man: Stephen Jones(Wales)

Wales:L Byrne (Ospreys); M Jones (Llanelli), T Shanklin (Cardiff), G Henson (S Parker 70min), S Williams (all Ospreys); S Jones (Llanelli, J Hook (Ospreys) 67min), D Peel (Llanelli, M Phillips (Ospreys) 43min); G Jenkins (Cardiff), M Rees (Llanelli, H Bennett (Ospreys) 55min), R Thomas (Dragons, Duncan Jones (Ospreys) 67min), I Gough, I Evans (both Ospreys, Deniol Jones (Cardiff) 67min), J Thomas, R Jones (both Ospreys, capt), M Williams (Cardiff, G Delve (Gloucester) 70min).

Italy:A Marcato; A Sgarbi (both Treviso), G Canale (Clermont), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Français), E Galon (Overmach Parma); A Masi (Biarritz, P Buso (Calvisano) 53min), S Picone (Treviso, P Travagli (Overmach Parma) 59min); S Perugini (Toulouse, A Lo Cicero (Racing Metro Paris) 50min), L Ghiraldini (Calvisano, C Festuccia (Racing Metro Paris) 70min), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester, A Lo Cicero 18-26min, S Perugini (Toulouse) 71min), S Dellapè (Biarritz, M Bortolami (Gloucester) 50min), C del Fava (Ulster), J Sole (Viadana, A Zanni (Calvisano) 61min), S Parisse (capt), Mauro Bergamasco (both Stade Français).

Yellow card: Italy: Mirco Bergamasco (50min)