Far from it being a personal thank you for the man who has breathed fresh hope and fire into the Welsh Dragons, the players know full well that their entire season will be judged on how they perform in the last match of their RBS 6 Nations campaign.

After an impressive victory over Scotland they bounced back from defeats to Ireland and France to run England close in a hard-fought 31-21 loss.

But Wales cannot afford to be anything less than fully committed to meet the challenge of the tough Italians in a match which couldl decide who takes third place in the final table.

New Zealander Hansen, who will be replaced by Mike Ruddock when he joins Graham Henrys All Blacks coaching set-up, stressed: The fact Im leaving is irrelevant. It isnt important for me personally but it is important for the team.

After two good performances in France and Italy we have to go home and make sure we perform well against Italy.

It isnt just about performances against the big boys. We also have to perform against the teams who are at our standard.