CAPTAIN Sam Warburton says that Wales haven’t lightened the workload ahead of Saturday’s crunch Six Nations clash with Italy despite the bumps and bruises from their Irish encounter, writes Chris Kirwan.

Warren Gatland’s men emptied the tank last Saturday when ending Ireland’s Grand Slam hopes with a 23-16 victory at the Millennium that gives them a shot at the title.

Wales have the advantage of an extra day of preparation for the Rome finale given that the Azzurri toiled away in grim conditions when thrashed 29-0 by France on Sunday and openside Warburton says they intend to put it to use on the training paddock.

“You still need those sharp bits of training, you don't really want to go off the boil in training because then you tend to get caught cold,” he said.

"So you want to keep a certain intensity in your training but the day or two days after the game there is not a whole lot of work going on anyway and that's normal for any week.

"It's nice because we've still got the Championship at stake. So even though there might still be a few small aches and pains there is a massive motivation to get things right for this Saturday because it's all to play for."

Warburton, who pipped Luke Charteris to the official man of the match award last weekend, will be a central figure on Saturday.

Not only will he lead the charge but the 26-year-old will decide when Wales opt to stop going for the sticks in favour of trying to rack up the points against an Italy side that are usually dogged and determined on their own turf.

“We've got to go in there first just thinking about building a score, doing what we normally do, rather than getting carried away with ourselves,” said Warburton.

"Winning the game has got to be the first priority and then talking to the decision makers when we feel we're in a decent place if we should go for corners.

“Away from home two years ago it took a while for us to break them down and I expect the same thing this time.”