Hook brace seals Wales win

Wales closed a disappointing RBS Six Nations campaign on a high note as they battered Italy 33-10 in Cardiff.

James Hook scored two second-half tries and Shane Williams added a third with Stephen Jones completing a flawless afternoon with the boot, converting all three tries to go with his four first-half penalties.

The Italians, who were condemned to another wooden spoon following Scotland's victory in Ireland, scored a consolation try late in the game but, after another slow start, it was a dominant Wales performance.

Early pressure from the visitors came to nothing as Craig Gower opted to kick when in good position but the ball went out on the full.

The Italians continued to move the ball quickly, setting up the fly-half for a drop-goal attempt that sailed just wide.

History

Tom Prydie, making history as the youngest-ever Welsh player at 18 years of age, saw his first action when fed by Jamie Roberts and his chip set up good scrum position for the Welsh.

After Stephen Jones had burst through the centre, the Italians were caught coming in on the wrong side and Jones opened the scoring from in front of the posts.

Mirco Bergamasco had the chance to draw his side level from the left hand side after Ryan Jones was penalised at the ruck, but his attempt came back off an upright and Wales retained the advantage, although Bradley Davies was forced off, replaced by Ian Gough.

The Welsh piled on the pressure though as they moved the ball from left to right, but the Italian defence was impressive as the hosts failed to get within 10 metres of the line, eventually turning the ball over.

As the first quarter was coming to a close Jones made it two out of two as the Welsh capitalised on further Italian indiscipline, hands coming over the top after Hook had been brought to ground.

Italy lost scrum-half Pablo Canavosio before the half-hour mark and after constant pressure that saw Phillips and full-back Lee Byrne go close to the line, the Welsh played the advantage from an offside penalty to send Byrne through on the right, but the touch judge raised his flag for a forward pass from Jones and the lead remained at six points.

But Jones soon made it three from three after Italy were again caught offside at the breakdown, before Hook made one of several great runs after collecting a poor clearance, but he was unable to gather his chip ahead and full-back Luke McLean got back to cover.

The Welsh were starting to dominate possession and after Salvatore Perugini was penalised at a five-metre scrum, Jones opted to kick from in front rather than search for that elusive try and suddenly the hosts were leading 12-0.

Gower's desperate attempt to put his side on the board with a drop-goal was the final play of the half, with the ball bobbling over the in-goal area line.

Defence

The second-half began in similar vein as Williams set the Millennium Stadium alight after being sent away by Tom Warburton in the 45th minute, but he ran into trouble and, despite having men over on the right, the doubty Italian defence held up once more.

Wales continued to open up and the ever-dangerous Hook was sent away following quick hands but the centre opted to go it alone instead of offloading to Prydie, and the chance was gone.

But the first try was coming and after setting up play in front of the posts Jones put in Hook, who evaded a weak challenge from Gower to cross on the left, the unerring Jones adding the extras.

Italy were now being stretched from side to side in an unequal defensive struggle, and Mauro Bergamasco was sin-binned on 55 minutes after losing his temper at a ruck, leaving a big hole in the line.

Hook was the beneficiary once more, set up beautifully by Jones again to cross unopposed under the posts, the impressive stand-off making it six from six with the extras.

The visitors simply couldn't get hold of the ball and with 20 minutes still to go it promised to be a cricket score.

But an altercation with Mike Phillips resulted in Bergamasco taking the chance to get his side on the board, which he did from in front of the posts.

Another break saw Byrne send three defenders the wrong way before offloading to replacement Tom Shanklin who found Phillips in support, and while the scrum-half was brought up just short of the line Williams was on hand to drive the extra metre over.

Jones' conversion was his final piece of action as Tom Bishop came on for the final 10 minutes, but the Italians had something to shout about five minutes from time, when despite their evident fatigue they kept the ball alive and McLean did well to duck inside and evade several tacklers to cross the whitewash.

It was no more than they deserved after spending the majority of the afternoon on the back foot, but the Welsh backs proved too strong on the day as the Dragons finished with two wins from their five championship games.