And Azzurri captain Andrea de Rossi has admitted his men have an extra incentive to claim maximum points.

De Rossi believes the absence of Carlo Cecchinato will spur on Italy as they are desperate to win so they can dedicate the triumph to the veteran forward who misses out on the trip to the Millennium Stadium because of a foot injury.

We are ready and I hope to get the first away win, De Rossi said.

We had training inside the Millennium Stadium and it was great but I still feel sad for my team-mate Carlo Cecchinato who will not be able to play.

All the players are concentrated and we want to win especially for Carlo who has been the backbone of this team. He is a great Italian rugby player.

Italy are under no illusions as to the difficulty of their task, however.

Though they beat Wales last year in the opening game of the tournament at the Stadio Flaminio, Italy look to be facing much tougher opposition this time around.

They will encounter a Welsh team who have looked impressive in this years championship and came within minutes of beating world champions England at Twickenham last weekend.

Franco Bernini, a member of Italys backroom staff, said: As an Italy fan and coach I very much hope we can win but I most say the Welsh are playing very well at the moment.

And last Saturday at Twickenham they were outstanding.