WALES delivered on their pre-match pledge to pile the pressure on England and Ireland in the tussle for the Six Nations title thanks to a sensational second half display in Rome.

Warren Gatland’s men ran out 61-20 winners against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico and must now play the waiting game while the Irish and English attempt to win by 21 and 17 points respectively.

They followed possibly their poorest half of the tournament, even worse than the second half against England, with a sensational second to fly to the top of the table.

Wales turned around with a 14-13 lead and then scored seven tries with wing George North going over for a nine-minute hat-trick before the hour and scrum-half Rhys Webb cutting the Azzurri to shreds.

A Leonardo Sarto try at the death, and Luciano Orquera’s excellent conversion, could prove to be crucial but it was a fantastic effort by Wales.

Some of their rugby in the second half was the best that they have played for years with their pace, intensity and skill too much for a shell-shocked Italy.

In World Cup year it was quite a statement.

Wales didn’t exactly come flying out of the blocks and they had an extra three points to make up with just 68 seconds on the clock after Italy fly-half Kelly Haimona punished the visitors for obstruction when receiving the kick-off.

The Zebre man didn’t last long, however, and was replaced with five minutes on the clock after injuring his arm when tackling powerhouse centre Jamie Roberts.

A stop-start affair saw a pair of Leigh Halfpenny penalties either side of a Luciano Orquera effort and it was 6-6 after 13 frustrating minutes.

Italy, stung by their 29-0 home hammering at the hands of France, got the crowd on side with their spirit and commitment but Wales settled the nerves on the quarter with a well-crafted try for Roberts.

A patient attack saw Jonathan Davies and Luke Charteris burst through midfield before Halfpenny put a delightful grubber kick through for the Racing Metro man to dot down for an 11-6 lead.

However, disaster struck in the 25th minute when Italy went in front thanks to a powerful finish by wing Giovambattista Venditti close to the line that was converted by Orquera.

Wales were compounding their errors and were also getting beaten in the tight while the slow nature of the game was hurting their plan to soften up the Azzurri before cutting loose late on.

It got worse when Halfpenny was replaced with 33 minutes on the clock after woeful tackling technique led to a huge blow to the head when stopping runaway number eight Samuel Vunisa.

But the visitors ended the half on the front foot and were rewarded for their toil when Biggar bisected the posts for a 14-13 lead at the break.

Thankfully they came out for the second half a different side and the points chase was on thanks to tries by wingers Liam Williams, from a quick Rhys Webb tap, and George North, after Williams burst through after an awful chip over the top.

Biggar converted both for a 28-13 lead and their charge was helped by a yellow card for centre Andrea Masi that was swiftly followed by a second for North after Alun Wyn Jones stole lineout ball five metres out.

The fly-half’s excellent touchline conversion made it 21 points scored in the space of seven minutes and suddenly a huge chunk of the gap to England had gone.

The scores kept coming with North making a nine-minute hat-trick by piling through some shoddy defence with raw power.

Replacement lock Quintin Geldenhuys was sin-binned for illegally stopping a driving lineout with quarter of an hour left – New Zealand ref Chris Pollock’s decision prompting whistles and jeers from the home fans – and Webb darted over from the back of a maul.

Wales kept their pedal to the floor and scored a pair of sensational tries with Sam Warburton crossing after Scott Williams and Justin Tipuric went on the charge before Williams went over himself after Italy were turned over from a lineout five metres out from the visitors’ line, Jonathan Davies and Gareth Davies providing the assist.

Biggar’s conversion made it 61-13 but there was a twist in the tale with Leonardo Sarto’s sensational try cutting the gap.

Over to you Ireland and England.

Italy: L McLean, L Sarton, L Morisi (E Bacchin 73), A Masi, G Venditti, K Haimona (L Orquera 4), E Gori (G Palazzani 73), M Rizzo (A De Marchi 50), L Ghiraldini (captain, A Manici 50), M Castrogiovanni (D Chistolini 50), G Biagi (Q Geldenhuys 50), J Furno, F Minto, M Bergamasco, S Vunisa (R Barbieri 69).

Scorers: tries – G Venditti, L Sarto; conversions – L Orquera (2); penalties – K Haimona, L Orquera

Wales: L Halfpenny (S Williams 33), G North, J Davies, J Roberts, L Williams (R Priestland 70), D Biggar, R Webb (G Davies 70), R Evans (R Gill 52), S Baldwin (K Owens 55), A Jarvis (S Andrews 73), L Charteris (J Ball 73), A W Jones, D Lydiate (J Tipuric 55), S Warburton (captain), T Faletau.

Scorers: tries – J Roberts, L Williams, G North (3), R Webb, S Warburton, S Williams ; conversions – D Biggar (6); penalties – L Halfpenny (2), D Biggar

Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)