Wales v Italy: Wales, Shaun Edwards mused this week, is a nice kind of bonkers. It is less than two months since the Wasps head coach started his part-time role in charge of a team in a state of disrepair, but despair has quickly turned to elation after victories over England and Scotland.

Edwards, and the national head coach, Warren Gatland, now have to manage expectation.

This afternoon's clash with Italy at the Millennium Stadium is being seen as a question of how many Wales will win by and the words "grand" and "slam" are being muttered. As Graham Henry said shortly after arriving in the country in 1998, a few months after a record 96-13 defeat to a South Africa side coached by the man who is now in charge of Italy, Nick Mallett, there is no happy medium in Wales.

"It is like a shower which is either too hot or too cold, depending on whether you are winning or losing," he lamented.

Gatland and Edwards have sent the temperature higher, but they are aware the confidence of their charges is still fragile. Wales wobbled against Scotland having taken a 17-9 lead, playing with a casual disregard in their own half and seeing their lead whittled to two points before the management sent on three players who had been part of the 2005 grand slam side to restore order.

Wales have made six changes from the side that started against Scotland but, in all except the case of the tighthead prop Rhys Thomas, the players brought in are more experienced than those they have replaced.

Gatland is aware of the burden of expectation, something Wales have not had to contend with much this decade.

Although Wales have won three of their last four championship matches against England, they have been victorious in only two of their past five encounters with Italy. They have struggled, 2005 aside, to cope with the mantle of favourites, and Gatland recognises his role has changed since the team travelled to Twickenham seeking their first victory there for 20 years.

"The players have to accept that they are favourites on Saturday and have to deal with the pressure expectation brings," he said. "I told them before the Scotland game to push themselves to the limit for 80 minutes and then enjoy the following week.

"It is the same message this time. It will be physical and it will hurt, but we have the chance to go to Dublin on the trail of the Triple Crown next month having won three out of three.

"It is not a question of how we win or how many we win by. I would nick my grandmother's purse for a victory and I would settle for 3-0 right now. It would pretty much guarantee us third place, something I think everyone in the country would have settled for at the start, and allow us to have a go in our tough two final games."

Italy have struggled in the opening quarter of their first two matches, against Ireland and England, before rallying in the second half. They will not be able to match Wales for pace behind the scrum and will look to slow ball down at the breakdown.

The uglier the game, the longer the visitors will remain in it. They are without place-kicker David Bortolussi, as well as Pablo Canavosio and Kaine Robertson.

Mallett has brought in Simon Picone at scrumhalf, while Salvatore Perugini comes in to the front row and Andrea Lo Cicero is on the bench.