A record Six Nations victory over Italy, a new try-scoring record for Gareth Thomas and a winning end to the Six Nations in the final game of Steve Hansen's reign as Wales coach.

It was a pretty impressive six-try send-off for Hansen, and he responded to the reception from the fans by emerging from the tunnel on to the pitch after it was all over.

Even then he displayed an emotion that few thought he possessed by actually shedding a tear as he waved a fond farewell to the fans.

Yet before the start there was a very real possibility of at least a very tight game, with the Italians targeting Wales as their first away win in the championship, as well as getting a little bit of revenge for putting them out of the World Cup last year.

They even spent a few days preparing in Ireland, and coach John Kirwan picked a heavyweight pack to take Wales on up front where they were perceived to be vulnerable after their troubles in previous games.

But Kirwan and Italy were surprised by a galvanised Welsh team, buoyed by some of the scintillating rugby they played against world champions England and clearly in the mood for more.

On top of that they failed to gain the superiority they and others expected up front and were guilty of far too many missed tackles and turned the ball over too often.

And they met a Welsh side determined to give Hansen the right kind of send-off after he had done so much to develop them.

It all proved a pretty potent cocktail, too strong for Italy, who gravely disappointed Kirwan as they slumped to the kind of defeat they weren't expecting, if defeat at all.

Wales scored no fewer than six tries, all of them by the backs, which proved a point or two about the way they wanted to play and what they actually achieved.

That penetrative back three of Thomas and the Williams boys, Rhys and Shane, got five of them, and Wales nabbed four in a second-half purple patch of 15 minutes.

Wales haven't known such championship riches for years, though there was one victory by a higher margin during Hansen's reign, the 58-14 win against Fiji 16 months ago.

But the platform was laid by the much- maligned pack, who at least achieved parity against an eight that had given everyone else problems during the Six Nations.

Hansen raved about the performance of Newport Gwent Dragons lock Michael Owen again, and praised the leadership qualities of Colin Charvis and the resilience of Gareth Llewellyn in his record-equalling 87th appearance for Wales.

The scrums and line-out were an improvement on Twickenham, and Wales forced far too many turnovers for the Italians' liking.

That, coupled with a whole series of missed tackles, meant Italy made hard work of it, but even then they had trouble coping with the Welsh skills.

It was almost a throwback as the Williams boys and Thomas ran from all angles, with half-backs Gareth Cooper and Stephen Jones very effective, Mark Taylor as sound as ever and Iestyn Harris pulling the strings.

Harris had a hand in two of Wales' opening three tries, even if his man-of-the-match award was a surprise.

The first came after he served Rhys Williams, who ran gloriously, then Harris linked again to send Shane Williams away on a ghosting run to the line.

The second was a simpler affair as Cooper dashed down the blindside and transferred to Thomas, who served Rhys Williams for the speedster to shrug off Italian captain Andrea De Rossi for a try in the corner.

Two Jones penalties made it 16-0 at the interval. Then came the real spree as Harris ran well on the outside for Thomas to pounce for his record 34th try to send the 70,048 crowd into raptures.

When Harris departed the scene replacement Tom Shanklin, who had replaced him successfully at Twickenham, wasted no time getting in on the act, bounding across for a try within a minute.

Though Italy pulled one back when centre Andrea Masi made it to the line, Wales played some champagne rugby to finish the Italians off with two tries in as many minutes.

Shane Williams romped over for a second after being put away by Shanklin, and Rhys Williams nabbed his second as well after a Martyn Williams burst and a huge overhead pass from Owen.

Jones converted the four second-half tries for a 14-point haul, and though the game petered out after all that had gone before the result, and the manner of achieving it, it was a fitting tribute to Hansen.

It had been a love-hate relationship between Hansen, the fans and the media, but it ended on a high which was appropriate because even if the building blocks have been put in place, there have been too few of them.

But now there is a real feeling that more are on the way. Over and out Steve Hansen, over to you, Mike Ruddock.

Wales: G Thomas, R Williams, M Taylor, I Harris (T Shanklin 59), S Williams, S Jones (C Sweeney 73), G Cooper (D Peel 73), Duncan Jones (B Evans 79), R McBryde (M Davies 73), G Jenkins, G Llewellyn, M Owen (R Sidoli 79), C Charvis (captain), Dafydd Jones (A Popham 75), M Williams.

Scorers - tries: R Williams (2), S Williams (2), G Thomas, T Shanklin; conversions (4): S Jones; penalties (2): S Jones.

Italy: G Canale (R Wakarua 58), N Mazzucato, A Masi (S Picone 73), C Stoica, D Dallan (M Bergamasco 53), R de Marigny, P Griffen, A Lo Cicero, F Ongaro, M Castrogiovanni (S Perugini 58), S Dellape, C del Fava (R Mandelli 58), M Bortolami, A de Rossi (captain), A Persico (S Orlando 11-21, 35).

Scorers -- try: A Masi; conversion: R de Marigny; penalty: de Marigny.