FOR 40 minutes it certainly wasn’t pretty, and the chance of being the first team to record a Six Nations four-try bonus slipped through their fingers in the Rome rain, but Wales came on strong in the second half to avoid an Italian upset.

The Azzurri, with talisman Sergio Parisse absolutely everywhere, scented a repeat of their famous 2007 triumph at the Stadio Flaminio when they led 7-3 at the break.

However, Wales’ experienced side stayed calm and completely bossed the second half against their tiring hosts.

Tries by centre Jonathan Davies and wings Liam Williams and George North gave them hope of a five-pointer but they fell agonisingly short with Williams losing control of the ball going for the line when the clock was in the red.

Nonetheless, Wales showed composure to take the spoils and must now recover swiftly with England heading to Cardiff on Saturday.

They will need to pick up where they left off against the champions, who endured a stodgy start of their own, and they will gain confidence from the way that they finished against admittedly limited and indiscipline hosts.

Sam Davies impressed at fly-half after coming on at half-time for the injured Dan Biggar and replacement props Rob Evans and Tomas Francis laid the foundation for the win.

The back row balance remains a problem – and if Taulupe Faletau is fit he has to come in at number eight – but Scott Williams showed his class at 12.

Wales were on the front foot from the off with Biggar posing questions with a smart kicking game.

However, it remained scoreless with a quarter of the game gone despite the visitors enjoying 80 per cent of the possession with full-back Leigh Halfpenny pushing an early long-range penalty wide.

They had kicked penalties to the corner to put the pressure on through their driving lineout but the Azzurri held firm and a big chance went begging when the ball was spread right by Biggar, it came off Davies’ feet and went over the line only for loosehead prop Andrea Lovotti to just get there ahead of the centre.

Wales were then made to pay for turning down shots at goal when Italy opened the scoring thanks to their powerful set piece.

A scrum against the head led to Parisse going on the charge being held up over the line after fine defensive work by George North.

However, the men in blue soon went over when scrum-half Edoardo Gori rewarded the efforts of his forwards by going over from a maul with fly-half Carlo Canna adding the extras.

Wales got on the scoreboard through the right boot of Halfpenny but ended the half pinned inside their 22, escaping thanks to a wonderful tackle and then jackal by blindside Sam Warburton.

At 7-3 down it wasn’t panic stations but Howley’s men had played into the Italians’ hands with a sluggish half, giving the Azzurri something to cling onto.

Sam Davies replaced Biggar, who had suffered a blow to the midriff, at half-time for his fourth cap but it was the vastly-experienced captain Alun Wyn Jones that led the charge in a brighter start by the visitors.

The lock carried hard on a number of occasions and the pressure prompted Italy to infringe and Halfpenny to bang over a second penalty.

And the full-back made it 9-7 when home flanker Steyn’s big tackle on Ross Moriarty was, slightly harshly it has to be said, deemed to be dangerous in the 53rd minute.

Italy were making mistakes and their discipline was going with Parisse pinged for a daft offside to allow another Halfpenny three-pointer.

Then Wales broke free with Rhys Webb darting and then being deemed to have been just shy of the line by the TMO.

However, they piled on the pressure at the scrum – with the replacement props making a big difference – for Italy loosehead Andrea Lovotti to be yellow-carded.

Then Wales killed the game when the ball was worked right for Scott Williams to stay calm and put midfield partner Davies over.

Halfpenny’s conversion made it 19-7 and they continued to make 14-man Italy suffer when wing Liam Williams was put over down the left after good work by fly-half Davies and his centres.

Suddenly there was the possibility of the four-try bonus with 11 minutes to cross two more times only for Italy to have a spell of pressure.

A breakaway try sparked by Sam Davies saw George North, struggling with a leg injury after an early blow to his right quad, race clear and the visitors were inches away from an extra at the death only for Liam Williams to just lose control of the ball reaching for the line.

Whether that will matter only time will tell but Wales got the all-important win after staying calm and showing their class late on.

Italy: E Padovani; G Bisegni (S Panico 60-71), T Benvenuti (M Campagnaro 52), L McLean, G Venditti; C Canna (T Allan 69-74), E Gori (G Bronzini 65); A Lovotti (S Panico 71), O Gega (L Ghiraldini 46), L Cittadini (P Ceccarelli 58), M Fuser (J Furno 34-40), G Biagi (J Furno 52), A Steyn, M Mbanda, S Parisse (captain).

Scorers: try – E Gori; conversion – C Canna

Yellow card: A Lovotti

Wales: L Halfpenny; G North, J Davies, S Williams (J Roberts 73), L Williams; D Biggar (S Davies 40), R Webb (G Davies 73); N Smith (R Evans 49), K Owens (S Baldwin 69), S Lee (T Francis 49), J Ball (C Hill 62), A W Jones (captain, C Hill 4-15), S Warburton, J Tipuric, R Moriarty (J King 73).

Scorers: tries – J Davies, L Williams, G North; conversions – L Halfpenny (3); penalties – L Halfpenny (4)

Referee: JP Doyle (England)