Preview: Wales v Italy

The Welsh will be desperate to give the home crowd something to cheer about after last weekend's 21-25 defeat by England, allied to Scotland's win over France, scuppered their title hopes.

Italy's need for a win, or at the very least a committed display after a nine-try 15-58 mauling by Ireland in Dublin again re-opened the debate about whether the Azzurri, who've lost all four of their matches so far this Championship, were worth a place in the Six Nations.

Well though England played, Wales were alarmingly sluggish during an opening 40 minutes at Twickenham that ended with them 0-16 down at the break. Two tries in the closing six minutes could not repair the damage and Wales coach Warren Gatland said afterwards that only the players could answer why they were "so flat or lethargic" in the first half.

Now Gatland has made several changes, with Dan Lydiate captaining Wales after the New Zealander decided there was no point in rushing first-choice skipper Sam Warburton's return from a concussion suffered against England.

"With Sam, he came in with some symptoms. We could have gone through the rest of the week and he could have been available, but it's not worth taking the risk," said Gatland.

Meanwhile wing Hallam Amos, scrumhalf Rhys Webb, flank Justin Tipuric - in for Warburton - and lock Luke Charteris have all been brought into the starting side. Charteris replaces second row star Alun Wyn Jones, who could be out of action for up to six weeks with a heel injury, although Gatland hopes he will be fit for Wales's upcoming tour of New Zealand.

"He has been digging in and giving us what he's got. But he knows himself that he is not quite where he has been in the past and just needs that break to hopefully recover and get himself fit and ready for the [New Zealand] tour," he added.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel has also rung the changes, making five in all to his starting side, for what will be the Frenchman's final match in charge of the Azzurri. In the front row, Martin Castrogiovanni returns to replace the injured Lorenzo Cittadini, while locks Quintin Geldenhuys and Valerio Bernaboso come in for flu victim Marco Fuser and George Biagi, who was injured in Dublin.

Flyhalf Tommaso Allan replaces Eduardo Padovani while, at centre, Andrea Pratichetti takes over from the injured Michele Campagnaro.

"Wales, like Ireland, can be very effective. We can't afford to allow them too much time and space like we did in Dublin," ," said Brunel, looking to avoid the second wooden spoon of his Italy tenure.

Italy have suffered nine successive defeats against Wales, including last season's 20-610 Six Nations reverse in Rome. But Gatland was adamant Italy, who've won just 12 out of 84 matches since joining the tournament in 2000, were worth a place in the Six Nations.

"They have beaten Wales in the past, had a great win against France, beaten Scotland on a few occasions. They deserve their spot in there. For the development of the game in Europe, if there is a second tier and that continues to improve, then maybe there is an opportunity for the top team of that tier to play the bottom team of the Six Nations in a play-off game.

"It shouldn't just be a straight one up, one down. I think the team coming up has definitely got to be better than the team they are replacing. It's something that is potentially there for the future," Gatland stated.

Players to watch:

For Wales: The noise around Dan Biggar's pre-kick routine has been overtaken by his ability to control matters and brilliant tactical kicking. George North will be a threat out wide but Wales' main player is by far No.8 Taulupe Faletau, who gives them plenty of power and front foot ball when he gets going.

For Italy: Sergio Parisse is by far Italy's standout player and the rest of the side feeds off his performance and energy. The experienced Martin Castrogiovanni will certainly want to set the tone as well and use all his bulk to get things going.

Head to head: One will always expect Italy's pack to put up a massive fight but they have let many down in recent times. The big battle and the only one of interest will be at the back of the scrum when Taulupe Faletau tests himself against the great Sergio Parisse.

Recent results:

2015: Wales won 23-19, Cardiff

2015: Wales won 61-20, Rome

2014: Wales won 23-15, Cardiff

2013: Wales won 26-9, Rome

2012: Wales won 24-3, Cardiff

2011: Wales won 24-16, Rome

2010: Wales won 33-10, Cardiff

2009: Wales won 20-15, Rome

2008: Wales won 47-8, Cardiff

2007: Italy won 20-23, Rome

Prediction: Italy have not gotten going in this Championship and the questions around their inclusion in the tournament will become bigger after this match as we expect Wales, in front of a massive Millennium Stadium crowd, to claim an easy victory by about 15 points.

Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate (captain), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans.

Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe.

Italy: 15 David Odiete, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Andrea Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Andrea Lovotti.

Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Jacopo Sarto, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alberto Lucchese, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Luke McLean.

Date: Saturday, March 19

Venue: Millennium Stadium

Kick-off: 14.30 (15.30 CET; 14:30 GMT)

Expected weather: Grab you jerseys as the mercury will not surpass double digits. Low of 4°C, high of 7°C. 

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

TMO: Graham Hughes (England)