The makeshift presentation area at the Palazzo di Venezzia and the standby winners’ press conference were all in vain. Wales recorded their second biggest RBS 6 Nations victory under Warren Gatland but - after bolting ahead in the three-horse race thanks to a George North hat-trick - they watched the trophy painfully slip out of their one-handed grasp. It was a scintillating second-half display at the Stadio Olimpico. Italy were chewed up and spat out, while Wales feasted like old emperors of Rome. Gatland’s side will take face from the performance and, looking ahead to the World Cup, the Kiwi rounded off the competition with no anxieties about September’s pool of death. Liams Williams celebrates after crossing over to score one of Wales' second half tries during a stunning display at the Stadio Olimpico . Wales wing George North crosses over for Warren Gatland's side as he managed a sensational second half try hat-trick out in Rome . Jamie Roberts opened the try account for Wales early in the first-half as Samuela Vunisa (centre) and Mauro Bergamasco (right) watch on . ITALY XV: McLean, Sarto, Morisi,  Masi,  Venditti,  Haimona,  Gori;  Rizzo, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Biagi, Furno, Minto, Bergamasco, Vunisa . Replacements: Manici, Alberto De Marchi, Chistolini,  Geldenhuys, Barbieri,  Palazzani, Orquera, Bacchin . Tries: Venditti, Sarto . Conversions: Orquera . Penalties: Haimona,  Orquera . WALES XV: Halfpenny, North,  Davies, Roberts, Williams, Biggar, Webb;  Evans, Baldwin, Jarvis, Charteris, Jones, Lydiate, Warburton, Faletau . Replacements:  Owens, Gill,  Andrews,  Ball,  Tipuric,  Davies, Priestland,  Williams. Tries: Roberts, Williams, North (3), Webb, Warburton, S.Williams . Conversions: Biggar (6) Penalties: Halfpenny (2), Biggar . ‘We won’t be going into the World Cup with any fears of not qualifying from our group,’ said Gatland. ‘We will improve as we spend time together and there is no fear about playing England at Twickenham, or Australia. We can go there with some real confidence and belief that we can get out of our group. ‘You have sides ranked fourth, fifth and sixth in the world, so that shows how tough it is to get out of that group. Fiji with preparation will be tough as well and it’s unfortunate that you are going to have one of the big teams not making the quarter-finals. That’s what has happened but we are confident we can get out of that group and progress to the quarter-finals.’ Italy, meanwhile, will be easy meat at the World Cup if they do not improve their flaky blue line of defence. They provided easy pickings in the second half, although that should not detract from Wales' ambition and enterprise shown after the half-time break. It was a stark contrast to the opening 40 minutes, when the visitors’ inexperienced front-row were shown up by the Azzurri pack. Italy had been slated, written off and identified as whipping boys, yet they came out growling in the national anthems and would have been in front at the break, had it not been for a Dan Biggar penalty on the stroke of Chris Pollock’s whistle. ‘It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against, it’s difficult to put a team away in the first half,’ said Gatland. ‘We were under some pressure at the scrum and Italy slowed the game down. It was hard for us to get tempo, but I thought we were very, very good when we started playing a bit more positively.’ The experienced Martin Castrogiovanni, back in the Italian front-row after being bitten on the nose by a dog, caused problems at the set-piece and carried hard in the early exchanges. All the talk in the Roma bars had been about not whether Wales would win in Rome, but how many points they could put on their second-rate opponents. There was an instant Italian retort and – after Wales were penalised for using blockers to help Luke Charteris at the kick-off – Kelly Haimona kicked the hosts to an unexpected lead. Wales had to steady the ship and so they did, with a penalty through the ever-reliable Leigh Halfpenny. Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny receives treatement after a nasty collision forced him off the field of play at the Stadio Olimpico . Martin Castrogiovanni (centre) rides the challenge of Luke Charteris (left) as Italy hosted Wales in the Six Nations final day . Parity; a chance for Wales to start again, although that was not the case. Italy were supposed to be short on spirit after the withdrawal of skipper Sergio Parisse, although their was no lack of belief during the early blows. Haimona left the pitch with a broken wrist but Luciano Orquera took over the kicking and edged his side back in front with a 10th minute penalty. There was little on show that would give Ireland or England much to fear. Jamie Roberts and Giovambattista Venditti exchanged scores and Wales went into the break with an unconvincing one-point lead. They had lost Leigh Halfpenny to concussion and their title ambitions were looking bleak. But then, out of nowhere, the flick switched and the lights started flashing red. Italy capitulated and Wales turned up the heat. They upped the tempo and – with Sam Warburton and Alun-Wyn Jones working tirelessly up front – the backline started to fire. Rhys Webb turned down a kick at goal for a tap penalty, finding Liam Williams on a cute inside line to open the floodgates. The banks of the River Tiber were imploding and Andrea Masi was sent to the sin-bin. Within 10 second-half minutes, North had completed his hat-trick, drawing on his pace to finish two out wide and his power to finish a third through the middle. It was the sort of rugby that viewers have been craving throughout this year’s competition. It lacked of edge-of-seat intensity of the defensive phases against Ireland, but would give the southern hemisphere nations a run for easy-on-the-eye viewing. George Biagi followed Masi to the sin-bin and, powering over from the back of a maul, Webb edged the scoreline towards 50 points. Scott Williams reaches out to add another try as Wales put in a sensational second half performance to crush Italy in Rome on Saturday . Wales wing George North stampedes through a challenge from Giovanbattista Venditti to score a third try in the second half . Wales unleashed their loaded bench, with Gareth Davies, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Priestland all making a late impact; after Scott Williams had been introduced early as a replacement for Halfpenny. Finishing off a break from just outside the Welsh 22, Warburton darted under the posts to move his side past the half-century mark, before Scott Williams finished off another fine move to leave the organisers questioning their decision to send the trophies to Twickenham and Murrayfield. Wales had done what they came to do. They had achieved the mammoth scoreline and the celebratory drinks were on ice. They pushed for one last try but, out of nowhere, Leonardo Sarto crashed the party. The Italian winger broken downfield for a late try, with the score confirmed by the TMO. i’It was probably a 14-point swing in terms of the points difference,’ said Gatland. With Wales missing out on the title by a handful of points, it proved to be a costly mistake. The lucky Wales fans who made the trip to the Stadio Olimpico were treated to a masterclass of rugby in the second half in Rome . Jamie Roberts launches himself at Luciano Orquera (left) as the Wales side cruised to a comprehensive win in the Six Nations . Wales' Sam Warburton scores a try during the Six Nations demolition of Italy in the 61-20 victory at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday . Warburton yells in delight having scored a second-half try for Wales as Warren Gatland's side ran riot with 47 unanswered points . The victorious Wales players applaud the travelling fans in Wales after Gatland's men kept their Six Nations title dreams alive . The Wales squad congratulate each other having put in a sensational display to thrash Italy 61-20 in the Six Nations .
Warren Gatland's side took a slender 13-14 first half lead out in Rome . Giovanbattista Venditti went over for Italy's try after Jamie Roberts had scored Wales' opener . Within the first fifteen minutes of the second-half Wales scored three quick-fire tries to go 13-35 up . The Welsh domination continued as Italy went down to 14 men twice, and Wales scored 47 unanswered points .