Italy 7-33 Wales: Visitors score 33 unanswered points to win in Rome thanks to tries from Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams and George North

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Wales stared down the barrel of defeat before recovering to claim an opening RBS 6 Nations victory — but it was hardly enough to upset the odds of an English victory in Cardiff this Saturday.

The visitors, who overturned a 7-3 half-time deficit, were hit by injuries to Dan Biggar and George North but coach Rob Howley, who has given his players two days off, insisted the result gives Wales all the momentum they need.

'We haven't started well since 2012,' said Howley. 'Now we can go into the England game with a bit more self-belief and confidence. Our experience shone through.

The victorious Wales side leave the field after coming from behind to secure a 33-7 victory over Italy in Rome

Jonathan Davies celebrates after crossing the line to score Wales' first try of the afternoon in wet conditions in Rome

Liam Williams crossed the whitewash to score his side's second try of the game, which as good as killed the contest off

George North scored the game's final try as he burst through to touch down after a superb solo run from his own 22

Leigh Halfpenny kicked four penalties to bring Wales back from 7-0 down to lead the contest at the Stadio Olimpico

Edoardo Gori, at the bottom of the pile, had got Italy off and running as he bulldozed over for the game's opening try 

'We use the word relentless and in the first half we weren't always relentless. We will have to put England under more pressure than we did here against the Italians.

'Yes, we need to improve. But our defence in the first half was fantastic and our discipline here was excellent. We didn't give away many penalties, which was key.'

Wales conceded five penalties to Italy's 16 – a statistic that left Italy coach Conor O'Shea claiming the Six Nations outsiders are not given a 'level playing field' by referees.

Local Sunday newspapers lauded 'the Irishman who wants to lead a revolution' and he did not waste any time in his mission to establish Italy as a European force.

The Wales players line up to sing the national anthem ahead of the contest against Italy in Rome

The Italians sang a particularly rousing version of their national anthem in a game played in front of their president

Alun Wyn Jones offloads as he looks to break Edoardo Gori's tackle, as Sam Warburton looks on

The Welsh fans arrived in Rome dressed in an array of funny costumes, including this group of pizza-loving supporters

'Watch the first two minutes of the match and the scene is set,' he said, referring to JP Doyle not penalising North or Alun Wyn Jones for being offside and sealing off.

'I've no doubt that the penalties given against us were probably right — but only five were given against Wales? Red and blue need to be looked at in the same way.

'We can't lose a penalty count 16-5 and win matches. We have to be whiter than white. We will look at what we can control but we also have to change perceptions.'

While O'Shea has been tasked with leading the revolution, Italian president Sergio Mattarella was present at his first Six Nations match to deal with wider matters.

He was sitting alongside Jill Morris, the British ambassador to Italy, for a welcome break from Brexit discussions — although the president was met by whistles.

Wales' Jonathan Davies (right) is tackled by Italy's Sergio Parisse (centre) during the early stages of the Six Nations clash

The Italian scrum looked strong during the early stages of the contest but Wales soon found parity at the set piece

San Warburton shields the ball as Ornel Gega comes flying in to try and make the tackle at the Stadio Olimpico

The whistles continued, undiplomatically, as Leigh Halfpenny missed an early shot at goal from 48 metres. Wales turned down further kicks — a lack of respect for their opponents? — but failed to capitalise as they opted for attacking line-outs.

Italy's maul defence thrived, Biggar kicked from hand impatiently and Welsh runners often worked from standing starts. Balls were dropped in the rain — Rome is not always a sunny getaway for the Six Nations blazers — and the scrum creaked.

Maxime Mbanda tackled relentlessly and, after 29 minutes, Sergio Parisse broke from the base. The world's leading No 8 threw a disguised inside pass and Edoardo Gori scored from the next wave of attack. O'Shea pumped both fists.

In his pre-match analysis, O'Shea explained how Italy's players have been told for so long how they are no good that it has been written into their minds in indelible ink.

Italy's President Sergio Mattarella (R) and Giovanni Malago (L), President of the Italian National Olympic Committe, look on

Parisse and George North go head to head in midfield as the visitors look to punish their hosts in Rome

The Italians celebrate after Edoardo Gori barges his way over to touch down and score the first try of the afternoon

He took his seat alongside Brendan Venter and the South African barked words of encouragement for every set of phases that ended with a handling error or stray pass. 

'Brilliant,' he shouted, when hooker Ornel Gega knocked on after a series of territorial kicking — even though ex-England coach Mike Catt sat with head in hands.Biggar struggled through to half-time with bruised ribs — before being replaced by Sam Davies — and North played on with a dead leg from a banged right thigh.

Sam Warburton pulled off a try-saving turnover — labelled by Howley as a 'game-changer' — before half-time and Halfpenny narrowed the deficit with his first penalty.

Italy have traditionally run out of petrol in the second half and they collapsed as Halfpenny added nine more points from the tee.

Italy's Andrea Lovotti celebrates on the ground after the prop helped his scrum-half thunder over for the opening try

Parisse's running from the back of the pack was the driving force for Italy as they went in at half-time in the lead

Leigh Halfpenny slotted a penalty to reduce the Italian lead to four, which is how it stayed at the interval

Three of Wales' most natural attackers — Rhys Webb, Davies and Justin Tipuric — combined for a rare heads-up line-break and Wales were camped in Italian territory.

Struggling to understand JP Doyle's English instructions and overpowered by the fresh Rob Evans and Tomas Francis, prop Andrea Lovotti was then sin-binned at the scrum.

The 14 tired Italians caved in and Davies, pushing his case to start against England, pulled the strings as Wales took control of the territorial and scrum contests.

'Sam played particularly well and it's good that our 10s are able to put pressure on each other with performances like that,' said Howley, whose squad chartered a flight back on Sunday so they could undergo 2am icebaths in Cardiff.

Halfpenny and Italy captain Parisse challenge for the ball in the air during the opening stages of the second period

But Jonathan Davies broke the resistance of the hosts as he crossed the line to score Wales first try of the contest

The Wales players celebrate after Liam Williams' touched down their second try to essentially seal victory in Rome

'I think Sam showed in the autumn series that he is ready to start matches like next week's one if necessary.

'Dan's taken a bump to the ribs. He's got bruising and we'll see how he is over next few days. George took a knock early on. we asked him how he was and he didn't want to come off. That mental toughness is so important, especially away from home.'

Exploiting the overlap from the numerical advantage, Jonathan Davies slid over after 62 minutes. Generating faster ball and getting over the gainline, Liam Williams quickly followed when he dived over in the left corner as Italy's defence ran out of drift with tiring bodies.

The introduction of the four-try bonus point gave Wales something to chase in the closing 10 minutes and North, assisted by Sam Davies, limped over after a 70-metre run. Wales pressed frantically for a fourth but Williams agonisingly knocked the ball over the line in the final play — a moment that could come back to haunt him.

The final word went to North, who despite seemingly pulling a muscle minutes earlier, was able to touch down

Halfpenny picked up the man of the match award for his performance with the boot at the Stadio Olimpico