Wales had not beaten Italy at home since 2012, but here they did so in front of a record home crowd of 10,592.

They asserted early scrum dominance and won a penalty which was kicked to the corner by George.

The five-metre driving line-out was well defended, but Wales kept asking questions with a series of pick-and-gos.

Tuipulotu came within inches of scoring; the ball was then recycled out to Abbie Fleming who was stripped of the ball by Beatrice Rigoni as she reached for the line.

It was a spell of play which summed up Wales campaign as they again left their oppositions 22 empty-handed.

Italy then had a sniff of Wales tryline, but it was the hosts turn to celebrate their defensive effort as they launched another attack, sparked by Phillips superb charge down the line.

Another Wales line-out came on the five-metre line and this time Phillips threw a short ball to Alisha Butchers before taking it back and charging over the line.

It was nothing less than Wales deserved in the opening 15 minutes.