Edwards: 'All roads lead to Dublin'

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards cannot wait for his side's Triple Crown showdown in Dublin after watching them keep their RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam bid on track with a 47-8 victory against Italy on Saturday.

The home side stuttered to a 13-8 half-time lead at the Millennium Stadium but scored 34 unanswered points after the break to stay on course for a second clean sweep in four years.

"All roads lead to Dublin," proclaimed Edwards.

Saturday's result banished memories of a defeat and a draw against the Azzurri over the past two seasons, and for head coach Warren Gatland, the size of the victory was important as Wales move into the business end of the championship.

He said: "The biggest thing against Italy were the points we scored because the championship could come down to points difference and we put a message on with 10 minutes to go to try to score as many points as we could.

"Even if we lose to Ireland, it could come down to points difference in the final game against France. We are very mindful of that.

"I was always confident that we could win by 40 points, especially considering how sharp the players were in training.

"They are starting to understand the type of game we want to play."