Wilson’s troops have endured a mixed RBS 6 Nations so far, a convincing 28-15 victory against Scotland sandwiched between defeats to currently unbeaten pair Ireland in the opening round and England last time out.

And in order to get back on the winning track, after going down 40-9 against the Red Rose, Wilson has handed the captaincy to flanker Ellis Jenkins with regular skipper Kirby Myhill called back to the Scarlets for their game with Northampton this weekend.

Nathan Edwards also returns from injury and is joined in the centres by 17-year-old Jack Dixon who ran out for the Dragons against Munster on Friday.

All this makes Wilson believes a change of fortunes is just around the corner, however, despite having beaten Italy comfortably twice last season, he is not about to make any bold predictions.

“The boys were buzzing after coming out and playing in front of such an enthusiastic home crowd last time around here at Eirias,” he said.

“The support definitely had an effect on their game and experiencing that kind of atmosphere is all part of their progression as young rugby players.

“We knew this year was going to be tough. We are a young side and it was always going to be a big learning curve.

“We had a difficult start away to Ireland and although we made progress against Scotland we feel we took a step backwards against England so we are all eager to show what we can do against Italy.

“I couldn't fault the players efforts against a very strong England team, however, we were disappointed with the contact area and our ball retention, too many soft turnovers caused us huge periods of defence and eventually a couple of defensive errors were made under fatigue that cost us in the latter stages of the game.

“Italy are never a side to underestimate, they are combative and physical and they will be keen to prove a point of their own after we beat them twice last season.

“But Friday is all about us, if we are honest we were poor against Ireland, we played well for 60 minutes against Scotland, but after a drop in standards against England, our aim is to perform well for 80 minutes and if we do that, the result will look after itself.”

WALES UNDER 20:
15. Jordan Williams (Scarlets)
14. Iolo Evans (Scarlets)
13. Nathan Edwards (Bridgend RFC)
12. Jack Dixon (Dragons)
11. Luke Morgan (Ospreys)
10. Sam Davies (Ospreys)
9. Rhodri Williams (Scarlets)
1. Rob Evans (Scarlets)
2. Jamie Sollis (Dragons)
3. WillGriff John (Blues)
4. Matthew Screech (Blues)
5. Rhodri Hughes (Ospreys)
6. Ellis Jenkins (Blues)
7. Thomas Young (Blues)
8. Dan Baker (Ospreys).

Replacements
16. Darran Harris (Blues)
17. Thomas Davies (Blues)
18. Samson Lee (Scarlets)
19. Jack Jones (Ospreys)
20. Ieuan Jones (Dragons)
21. Jonathan Evans (Dragons)
22. Owen Williams (Scarlets)
23. Ross Jones (Ospreys)