Italy may have subdued the Scots in their opening championship match, but they were undone by a Scott on Saturday. Scott Quinnell was recently described by Bob Dwyer as too fat for an international player, but the number eight sealed the azzurri's fate with his most influential match for Wales since France in 1994.
If Wales are to have any chance a week on Saturday of recording their first victory at Twickenham since 1988, they need both Quinnell and his brother Craig, the second row, to be as dominant as they were against Italy.
It is one thing to prove imposing against side-stepping tacklers and a team fatuous enough to kick virtually every restart to Scott Quinnell, whose rushing yardage for the match reached three figures before half-time, but another to do so against a side as resolute and proficient as England.
The gibes over Quinnell's weight and form have ignored one germane fact: when he was dropped after Wales's record championship defeat by England two years ago, he was lacking in motivation as well as match fitness, shown little empathy by the Wales management.
Since Graham Henry took over as the Wales coach in 1998, Quinnell has, for the first time, played to a consistently high level rather than dining out on a big performance for a few months.
Henry's problem is that without the number eight there is nobody in the same mould able to take over. When Quinnell tired in the final quarter, Wales disappeared as an attacking force and Italy were unfortunate to be twice denied tries by the referee.
The home side at last showed some variation in attack, using their two wings in roving roles with the centre Allan Bateman often coming onto the ball from deep. But their game was based heavily on rehearsed plays rather than instinct, and they will need to show far more resourcefulness at Twickenham.
Italy's challenge was too feeble to ask searching questions of the Welsh defence, even when players were clearly out of position and the tactical kicking of their half-backs was dire.
The Italian out-half Diego Dominguez gives Wales no chance at Twickenham. "We lost because of our own deficiencies rather than Wales's strengths," he said.
It will be a long hard road for Italy, whose Under-21 and A sides were also routed in Wales. Their New Zealand coach, Brad Johnstone, is looking abroad to bolster his limited resources, as Henry did last year, but they will initially fare little better than France who won only one of their first 22 matches (against Scotland) after being admitted to the championship in 1910.
"It is right that we are in the Six Nations, but people have to be patient," said Johnstone. "The structure in Italy needs building up and it was hard for the players to raise their game for the second time in two weeks."
Wales: Howarth (Newport); Thomas (Cardiff), Taylor (Swansea), Bateman (Northampton), S Williams (Neath); N Jenkins (Cardiff), Howley (Cardiff); Rogers (Newport), G Jenkins (Swansea), Young (Cardiff, capt), C Quinnell (Cardiff), Wyatt (Llanelli), Lewis (Pontypridd), Sinkinson (Neath), S Quinnell (Llanelli). Replacements: Charvis (Swansea) for Lewis (h-t), Gough (Pontypridd) for Wyatt (68 mins), B Williams (Bristol) for G Jenkins, Jones (Llanelli) for N Jenkins (70 mins), James (Llanelli) for Thomas (72 mins), John (Cardiff) for Rogers (80 mins).
Italy: Pini; Stoica (both Narbonne), Martin (Begles-Bordeaux), Rivaro (London Irish), Dallan (Treviso); Dominguez (Stade Francais), Troncon (Montferrand, capt); Cuttitta (Calvisano), Moscardi (Treviso), Paoletti (Piacenza), La nzi (Calvisano), Gritti, Checchinato (both Treviso), Bergamasco (Padova), Visser (Treviso). Replacements: Orlandi (Rovigo), for Moscardi (22 mins), Francesio (Viadana) for Rivaro (54 mins), Persico (Viadana) for Lazi (65 mins).
Referee: I Ramage (Scotland).
