Chris Horsman's side scored tries courtesy of hooker Will Griffiths, a brace from outside centre Osian Knott and a try from scrum half Dafydd Buckland, while Evan Lloyd scored four points with his boot.

Scrum half Ratko Jelic and replacement hooker Tomas Rosario scored Italy's two tries with Michele Peruzzo scoring eight points.

Italy started the stronger of the two sides as their maul drove Wales back 10 metres to put the hosts under pressure. The Italian forwards pounded the Wales line in search of their first try and it eventually came when tiny scrum half Jelic wriggled his way over, with Peruzzo converting.

Wales rallied to fight their way back into the game and had a try disallowed when Griffiths found himself unmarked on the outside to touch down. But the final pass from outside half Evan Lloyd was judged to be forward.

But Griffiths didn't have to wait long for his first try as inside centre Aneurin Owen intercepted an Italian pass before offloading to Joe Roberts who charged up the touchline. The ball was recycled for Griffiths to run in unopposed for the games first try.

The remainder of the half was a nip and tuck affair with Italy retaking the lead when Peruzzo was successful with a penalty from 35 metres out meaning Wales trailed 10-7 at half-time.

Italy began the second half as they started the first with their ball carriers getting over the gainline and putting Wales under pressure. This led to Peruzzo extending their lead with a penalty after Wales infringed at the breakdown.

But Wales responded in kind with a straightforward penalty attempt from Lloyd due to an Italian defender not rolling away on the floor.

The home side finally broke Italy's resistance soon after when they were camped on the Italian line. After a series of pick and go's from the Wales pack the ball was spun wide to replacement centre Knott who showed great strength to get over the line.

Wales extended their lead even further when right wing Frankie Jones chipped over the top of the visiting defence. With Italy wing Lorenzo Romano racing back it was Jones who won the foot race, with scrum half Buckland on hand to pounce for an opportunistic try.

But Italy would not go away and managed to put Wales under pressure on their own try line. The visiting forwards went through the phases attempting to force their way over the try line before replacement hooker Rosario managed to claim an unconverted try.

Wales held a slender two-point lead going into the final five minutes and found themselves back in their own half when Italy were awarded a penalty after the hosts had illegally pulled down their maul.

The storm was weathered by Wales as their smart kicking game pinned Italy back in their own half. With Azzurri attempting to force the issue deep inside their 22 Knott intercepted a pass to seal a well-deserved win for Wales.