A seething Wales coach Steve Hansen demanded action from his players after they fell to their first ever defeat against the Azzurri.

Asked whether he was unhappy with the defensive lapses of his side, the Kiwi responded: "I would say that is an understatement.

"We've had a talk about the problems, but there's enough talk now and I want to see action.

"We lost it up front and failed to control the set piece. They went for it all day and controlled the game.

We've got to climb back on the horse and give it a good kick in the guts Steve Hansen

"They got some lucky breaks, too, with some of the refereeing decisions going their way, but that happened because they were going forward."

Wales captain Colin Charvis, who was substituted in the second half as the back row failed to live with the impressive Azzurri unit, echoed Hansen's words.

"It was a really difficult game. We couldn't retain enough ball to keep them going backwards," he said.

A dejected Martyn Williams leaves the field

Hansen now faces the daunting proposition of preparing his side to meet England at the Millennium Stadium next Saturday.

"It's about the next game now," he said, "we've got to climb back on the horse and give it a good kick in the guts."

In one piece of good news for Wales, wing Mark Jones' neck injury is not as bad as first feared.

The Llanelli man was carried off the field after a high tackle, but was walking around with the team afterwards.

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