Wales maintained their 100% record under new coach Warren Gatland with a 47-8 victory over Italy on Saturday, surpassing their previous best (47-16) Six Nations win over the Azzurri.

Here's what I made of each individual player's contribution, while my colleague Pranav Soneji has rated the Italian players below.

Let us know whether you agree and what you made of their displays.


WALES RATINGS by Bryn Palmer

Lee Byrne – One loose kick aside, continues to looks the part as a Test full-back. Some thumping kicks out of defence, safe under high ball, strong last line of defence – as a tackle on Mirco Bergamasco showed – and a threat in attack, collecting one try in right corner and powering through for second. 8

Mark Jones – Busy contribution coming in off his wing, stretched his legs with a couple of runs and showed he’s getting up to speed with the blitz defence with up-in-your-face tackles and good chases. 7

Tom Shanklin – Led Wales out on the occasion of his 50th cap. A quiet first half where most of his work was in defence, but intercepted Masi’s ill-advised pass to sprint home for a try early in the second and far more evident in attack thereafter. 7

Gavin Henson – More signs that he is back to the form of 2005, exuding confidence throughout before earning a breather late on. Claimed Masi’s ill-advised chip to force an early penalty, straightened the line well, providing a good target for his forwards, and provided scoring pass for Byrne’s first try. 7

Shane Williams – A constant danger, and incisive injection of pace led to first Wales try. Moved to within one of Gareth Thomas’s Welsh record of 40 tries with first an easy run-in before showing his class and finishing ability with a stunning second. 7

Stephen Jones – Kneed in the head early on by Del Fava, but didn’t distract him as he showed a good range of passing, nailed all his seven kicks at goal, provided a scoring pass for Williams’ first try and did enough to retain his place ahead of Hook for Triple Crown tilt in Dublin. 8

Dwayne Peel – Not the commanding display he would have wanted after displacing Mike Phillips, with several poor passes in first half, although one dummy and dart might have led to try. Troubled by blurred vision and departed two minutes into second half. 5

Gethin Jenkins – Under pressure from Castrogiovanni at scrum-time in first half, but stuck at it and switched across to tight-head for final quarter. Not too many of his trademark charges in loose though. 6

Matthew Rees – Busy in the loose, and nearly scored himself in build-up to Byrne try. But missed his target at line-out to hand Castrogiovanni his try, and three other throws went awry before he was replaced after 55 minutes. 5

Rhys Thomas – Can be satisfied with his Six Nations debut, allaying the fears during the build-up about his ability to handle the Italian scrummagers. Started well and did come under pressure., but a few charges with ball in hand too. 6

Ian Gough – Got through his usual workload in the loose, making tackles and driving well, scrummaged well and took a few line-outs at the front, although missed Rees’s line-out throw for Italian try. 6

Ian Evans – A raw-boned, athletic talent who could be a Lion if he cuts out the indiscipline that saw him take out Mirco Bergamasco to concede penalty. Showed up well in loose although not yet dominant at line-out time. 6

Jonathan Thomas – Gathered re-starts, made his tackles, took a few line-outs and drove well when he was used as a ball-carrrier. Did his bit to wrest control from the Italians at the breakdown. 7

Martyn Williams – A few deft touches in first half but the Italian back row consistently slowed up Welsh ball in the contact areas. Came into it more after the interval when the game opened up. 6

Ryan Jones – Constantly put his shoulder into it with a series of drives into the heart of the Italian defence, making ground for his side and leading from the front. Kept everyone calm when the visitors were briefly in the ascendancy, and now has a Triple Crown on his mind in his first season as captain. 7


Replacements:

Mike Phillips – On three minutes into second half and instant scything break showed his class only to botch the final pass to Mark Jones. Good kicking game and fizzing passes, may have earned starting spot for Dublin. 7

Huw Bennett – Came on for Rees after 55 minutes and helped shored up the Welsh line-out. 6

James Hook – Sent on with the game in the bag and banged over a couple of conversions, taking him past Phil Bennett in the Wales points-scoring list.

Duncan Jones – On for final 13 minutes to join in the late rout.

Deiniol Jones – A rare outing for the Cardiff Blue, stretching his legs in the final quarter.

Sonny Parker – Made an impact after replacing Henson, a deft offload sending Shane Williams away for his second try.

Gareth Delve – A late replacement for Martyn Williams, but will have to settle for more bench duty.

ITALY RATINGS by Pranav Soneji

Andrea Marcato - He may lack big-match experience, but the 24-year-old showed glimpses of his exciting talent running from full-back - his best moment was a wonderful 20m line break on 36 minutes - and at fly-half when Masi was replaced on 52 minutes. But his place-kicking radar needs a fine tune after hitting the woodwork twice in the first half. One for the future though. 7

Alberto Sgarbi - Like the majority of his team-mates, defended well in the first half but could do nothing to quell opposite number Shane Williams after the interval. 6

Gonzalo Canale - Somehow contrived to miss the simplest of passes he will ever receive five metres from Wales tryline after a brilliant backline move involving Masi and Galon, a mistake which provoked a very southern European reaction from South African coach Nick Mallett. 5

Mirco Bergamasco - Earned Italy their second penalty with a cute chip - only to be taken out by a crass shoulder barge from Ian Evans. The centre has an engine as reliable as a Ferrari's, offering support as a runner and consistently making tackles. Found himself in the sin-bin for failing to roll away at the tackle during Wales' second-half purple patch. 6

Ezio Galon - Cut the Wales defence to shreds on 21 minutes with a brilliantly angled run, only to see his text-book offload fumbled by Canale with the tryline looming. Showed good awareness in attack when he was given the chance to run at Mark Jones, which wasn't often. 7

Andrea Masi - Gifted Wales their second penalty when he opted to chip his defender deep in his 22 rather than welly the ball to Newport. Things went from bad to worse at the start of the second half when Tom Shanklin intercepted his floated pass to Sgarbi for Wales' third try. 5

Simon Picone - His distribution wasn't exactly electric, he lacks the passes that unlock international defences and rarely made any breaks around the breakdown, unlike his opposite opponents Dwayne Peel and Mike Phillips. 5

Salvatore Perugini - Imposed his authority alongside Castrogiovanni in the front row in the first half, giving Rhys Thomas a proper working over. Came off on 50 minutes. 7
Leonardo Ghiraldini - Generally found his jumper with his line-out throws, although a few wayward efforts did find their way into Welsh hands. 6

Martin Castrogiovanni - Took his try brilliantly - first snaffling Matthew Rees' overthrown line-out before bundling off Lee Byrne and Dwayne Peel to the line. Provided his typically robust, uncompromising style of scrummaging which Gethin Jenkins struggled to contain. 8

Santiago Dellape - Gave Wales their first penalty with indiscipline at the breakdown on four minutes, but Came off on 50 minutes. 6

Carlo Antonio Del Fava - Got away with a not-so-subtle knee to Stephen Jones' head in the first five minutes, but the Ulster captain is a formidable unit around the pitch. Was at the centre of Italy's best work at the breakdown. 7

Josh Sole - Didn't do anything spectacular, ensured he contributed his fair share of tackles before he was substituted by Alessandro Zanni during the second half.

Mauro Bergamasco - The marauding flanker with the luxuriant locks is always at the heart of Italy's best work, but he could do nothing to prevent Wales from turning on the style in the second-half. 6

Sergio Parisse - Didn't have quite the same impact as he had against England, but the Stade Francais number 8 is a class act, he really doesn't deserve to be on the losing side with his performances. 7

REPLACEMENTS:

Alessandro Zanni - Probably won't thank his coach for introducing him for Josh Sole when Wales were completely bossing the second half. 6

Marco Bortolami - The return of the second row for Santiago Dellape will give coach Mallett an enormous fillip, although the classy Gloucester star could do nothing to reverse his side's second-half slide. 6

Paulo Buso - Looked lively when he came on for Andrea Masi, filling in for Mercato at full-back. 7

Andrea Lo Cicero - The veteran prop is a solid scrummager, but the Italian set-piece was on its heels when he came on for Salvatore Perugini in the second half. 5

Pietro Travagli - The replacement scrum-half gave away the most needless penalty of the Six Nations when he ran a full 30 yards at full pelt to push Mike Phillips deep inside Welsh territory for absolutely no reason. 3