Wales youngsters Joe Hawkins and Mason Grady have been backed to come through the jeers and taunts of a Roman amphitheatre on Saturday – even if they don’t win. The centres – both 20-years-old and with a combined tally of just five caps – will form the raw midfield defensive shield as Warren Gatland’s side bid to keep out Italy in round four of the Six Nations, a match that is live on S4C. Former Wales centre Tom Shanklin went down that Roman road four times and lost twice – in 2003 and 2007 – but believes whatever the outcome at the Stadio Olimpico, Hawkins and Grady will eventually prosper.

“We don’t talk about Bruno!” is a famous song from Disney’s film Encanto, but very little has been mentioned about the Italian winger Pierre Bruno. Strange, really, as he has emerged from the shadows of former powerhouse Monty Ioane to become a tour de force on the Italian wing. Bruno has 10 Italian caps, five international tries and in round three of the Six Nations he made a staggering 155 metres in attack from his 15 carries against the Irish.

Mason Grady had played with George North and Dan Biggar years before the youngster made his Wales debut against England. It was more than a decade ago when North and Biggar were youngsters in Warren Gatland’s first spell as head coach and Grady was an eight-year-old moving his heroes around on his X-Box. Now, he is preparing in a squad with both players, to try and prevent a Six Nations wooden spoon by beating Italy in Rome on Saturday.

After the strike that never was, the shock result that could be. Coach and rugby analyst Tomas Marks looks at the painful lessons from Murrayfield and believes Wales can benefit from the shake-up that followed. After a turbulent week off the pitch it’s all systems go for Wales against England. The performance against Scotland will have been dissected thoroughly and the main learnings from the match were the failure of the attack, inferior tackle success, and continuing ill discipline.

Ryan Woodman will have a small army of fans cheering him against England on Friday night – most of whom are English. The Wales U20s captain is from purest red rose stock, with his parents and grandparents hailing from the other side of the border. In fact, his father Kirk used to sit and watch Six Nations matches on TV, wearing a white shirt and urging the sweet chariot onwards.

Warren Gatland has suggested his young blood policy is only half complete with Wales youngsters Mason Grady and Keiran Williams waiting in the wings. The Wales coach left experienced trio Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric out of Wales’ starting line-up for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Scotland. Now, the New Zealander has revealed he is keeping close tabs on Ospreys centre Williams and Cardiff centre Grady with a view to promoting them in the way he has with Dafydd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza and Tommy Reffell.