WALES delivered what they promised as they left Italy scattered amid the ruins of Rome on Saturday - they took the game right away from them at the outset and went on to secure a stunning victory.

It's the first time for 11 years that Wales have won their first two championship games - before Italy were part of the competition - and it was the first occasion for four years for them to win two Six Nations championship matches running.

And that is what they did - they hit the ground running and they put the dangerous Italians right out of it, just as the Argus urged them to do on Saturday.

There was to be no repeat of the previous week, when the Italian pack shook the Irish with a forward onslaught from their powerful eight.

That was because Wales were prepared. Coach Mike Rudddock - surprise, surprise - saw what was coming as he studied the tapes, and he made sure Wales were good and ready. Take them on up front from the first whistle, was the plan, take the game to them, score early, dent their confidence, ask them questions and then exploit the gaps as uncertainty crept in.

Not everything will go to plan as well as this for Ruddock, but it wasn't a bad effort, and it worked pretty well out on the pitch as well.

Wales got the early try the plan needed if it was to work, as for the second week running number eight Michael Owen boomed out a long pass going left, this time late inclusion Jonathan Thomas reaping the reward with a try in the corner.

Though Italy responded when outside-half Luciano Orquero charged down a kick by Gavin Henson they became as uncertain as a Welsh fan trying to cross a main road in the middle of Rome.

Wales took advantage and they rammed their point home as they scored two more tries before half-time to knock the Italians right out of their stride.

This time Henson opted for gold boots, but there was to be no silver lining as he was brought back down to earth after his match-winning performance against England - no bad thing for his development - with that charged-down kick and a missed penalty.

But it was from his high, probing kick that Tom Shanklin leapt high to rob Ludovico Notoglia and gain the touchdown for the second try.

The third had more than an element of controversy about it as RBS man of the match Martyn Williams finished off a run by Hal Luscombe, getting the ball down against an upright, enough to earn the decision from the video referee.

Two Stephen Jones conversions earned a 19-5 interval lead, which was about as good as Wales could hope for given Italy's performance against title favourites Ireland the week before.

But it got better, and two tries in four minutes by the middle of the second half ended the match as a contest and sent the thousands of Welsh fans - surely there were many more in the ground than the 4,000 allocation the WRU received - singing happily in the land of the grand voice.

Lock Brent Cockbain powered over after a super short pass from Jonathan Thomas for his first try for Wales in his 16th appearance, and before Italy could recover jack-in-the-box Shane Williams, who must have rivalled his namesake for the star choice award, was over for another.

It highlighted the expansive approach Ruddock wants to adopt. Forward coach he may be in the first instance, but he wants to excite the fans with a wide, expansive game once the foundations have been laid, and he didn't disappoint.

Skipper Thomas roared through the middle, and the ever-present Martyn Williams swept on and popped the ball up to replacement Kevin Morgan who, in turn, handed on to Shane Williams for the finishing touch.

It was a sublime piece of rugby, up there with the best, and it heralded a whole rash of replacements as, satisfied the job was done, Ruddock sent the lot of his replacements on to see what they could manage. There remained one more try in the locker as Cockbain's fellow lock, Robert Sidoli, also scored his first try for Wales - in his 22nd appearance - with some more super rugby.

Gareth Cooper, who had replaced Dwayne Peel, threw out an outrageous pass, Shane Williams again took over, this time on the inside, Ceri Sweeney, playing with his Dragons half-back partner, took over, and Sidoli was sent steaming across. Italy had managed only a penalty by Roland de Marigny amid this riot of Welsh scoring which earned them their biggest win at the Stadio Flaminio.

The expectant Italians were devastated while Wales took the accolades from the fans, and skipper Thomas did his own version of the Ayatollah as he acknowledged the thousands of supporters.

That they were later submerged as the Italian Metro attempted to get a world record number of people on one of their underground trains made little difference to their celebrations.

On to Paris now next week, as the Welsh effort gains momentum and they make a surprise bid to take the Six Nations title from under the noses of the more fancied rivals. Who said Welsh rugby is dead and buried?

Wales: G Thomas (captain), H Luscombe (K Morgan 55), G Henson, T Shanklin, S Williams, S Jones (C Sweeney 63), D Peel (G Cooper 59), G Jenkins, M Davies (R McBryde 64), A Jones (J Yapp 64), B Cockbain (I Gough 64), R Sidoli, J Thomas, M Owen, M Williams (R Sowden-Taylor 78). Scorers - tries: J Thomas, T Shanklin, M Williams, B Cockbain, S Williams, R Sidoli; conversions: S Jones (4). Italy: R de Marigny, Mirco Bergamasco (K Robertson), W Pozzebon, A Masi (M Barbini 22-25), L Nitolgia, L Orquera, A Troncon (P Griffen 59), A Lo Cicero, F Ongaro (G Intoppa 73), L Castrogiovanni (S Perugini 71), S Dellape (C Del Frvaa 59), M Bortolami (captain), A Persico, S Parisse, Mauro Bergamasco (D Dal Maso 24). Scorers - try: L Orquera; penalty: R de Marigny.