Wales end on a high as they beat Italy in Cardiff

Wales ended their Six Nations campaign on a high as they comfortably beat Italy 33-10 at the Millennium Stadium earlier today, with flyhalf Stephen Jones taking the Man of the Match award after scoring eighteen points.

James Hook scored two tries while Shane Williams added a third as Wales picked up their game in the second half against an injury ravaged Italian side that fought bravely early on.

Wales finish fourth on the table for the second year running, despite the good win today. Italy though, have taken the wooden spoon, finishing sixth.

"It was a very good performance, the most complete performance of the Six Nations, though it came in the last game which is disappointing," said Stephen Jones.

Coach Warren Gatland was happy with the win, but felt the tournament on a whole was a frustrating one for them.

"I thought we played some outstanding rugby today. We showed potentially what we are capable of. In other games we've let ourselves down and been behind and having to chase games, he said.

"There were 23 minutes of ball in play in the first half, if you put a team under pressure for that amount of time, often the opportunities will come in the second half.

"We still have a few things to work on but we think when we get everything right we can trouble any team in the world," he added.

Italy coach Nick Mallet was proud of his sides performance, considering the injury toll leading up to the match, and having lost their scrumhalf early on.

"I think they did absolutely fantastically in defence, we could have taken five or six more tries. We had lots of guys falling like flies on the field from after two minutes, we had three injuries on Thursday, we've just taken 45 points from France so, far from being disappointed, I'm very proud of the guys," he said.

Time: 06:06

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