Rampant Wales thump Italy 38-8 in Rome

Wales made it two victories out of two in the Six Nations when they combined forward power, intelligent running and clinical finishing to overwhelm Italy 38-8 in the Stadio Flaminio yesterday.

It is the first time for 11 years that Wales have won their first two games of the championship and yesterday's success came at a canter following last week's tight 11-9 win over England in Cardiff.

Wales lost this fixture in Rome two years ago but have improved beyond measure since then and swept away a ragged Italian side who looked a shadow of the team who impressed in defeat by Ireland last week.

The result underlined how far Italy still have to come to seriously challenge the northern hemisphere's heavyweights.

They produced a patchy display, often undone by the lack of a cutting edge in their backline and, when they did press, poor goalkicking.

Wales earned the right to play with a committed forward display and their highly-rated backline took full advantage.

"The forwards did very well against one of the best packs in the tournament," Martyn Williams said.

"The ground work was done by the front five. Last week was a big win for us but we still have a lot to improve on."

Wales face champions France in Paris in two weeks' time but for now can enjoy their best start to the championship since they last won it in 1994.

Irish recover to beat Scots

Ireland recovered from an early scare to beat Scotland 40-13 and remain in the hunt for their first Six Nations title in 20 years.

Scotland started full of running and a converted Hugo Southwell try gave them an 8-0 lead before Ireland hit back with tries for locks Malcolm O'Kelly and Paul O'Connell to reach half-time 18-8 ahead.

Ireland went further clear early in the second half with a Denis Hickie try and after Jon Petrie had scored in a rare Scottish foray, the visitors finished with tries for John Hayes and replacement back Gavin Duffy just minutes after coming on for his debut.

Ireland, who had to work hard to edge past Italy in Rome last week, now face successive home games against England and France, who meet at Twickenham today, in their quest for their second grand slam.

Playing today: 4 p.m. England vs France.