ITALY fly-half Craig Gower is wary of a wounded Wales as the Azzurri attempt to avoid the Six Nations wooden spoon for another year.

A win for Scotland against Ireland would condemn whoever loses the Millennium Stadium clash to last place.

It is something of a fall from grace for Warren Gatland's men, Grand Slam champions just two years ago.

But Gower is reading little into their stuttering form.

"I do not think Wales are vulnerable," he said. "They will come out firing and it will be a big challenge for us."

Gower feels the Azzurri have made strides this year, despite again struggling for results.

"We have to do the basics right and see what comes," he said. "We are using the ball more than we used to.

"Ireland was a disapp- ointing game for us in terms of moving the ball but we improved against England and Scotland and will be looking to create opportunities."

Gower has seen the shape of the Italian side change, and is looking to help the side improve the quality of their rugby by adapting his own game.

He said: "We have changed from being a forward-based team; I do not want to give the ball away all the time but you have to be smart about the way you play and my job is to make it work, getting us in the right positions and playing a little bit. We are building as a team and we want to start getting results away from Rome."

Italy, the traditional whipping boys of the Six Nations since joining the fold in 2000, have made themselves tough to beat of late, so last week's 46-20 defeat at the hands of France came as something of a surprise.

"We defended well in Australia and New Zealand last summer and France was a bit of a shock because we had not conceded many tries before that," said Gower. "France are pretty good all over the park."