Wales need to shake things up in their selection for the game against Italy, argues Robin Davey, who wants Warren Gatland to bring back Rhys Patchell and a number of others following the costly Six Nations defeat to Ireland.

Restore Rhys Patchell, start with George North, and give the Welsh pack some power. Those are the minimum requirements for the game against Italy at the Principality Stadium a week on Sunday.

For Wales, Six Nations title hopes have disappeared after successive defeats at the hands of England and Ireland. Now, the Italy match represents an ideal opportunity for Warren Gatland and Co to experiment ahead of the more demanding game against France.

Despite the improvement shown by Benetton and Zebre in the Guinness Pro14, at national level Italy remain the whipping boys, defying the efforts of new chief Conor O’Shea.

So, victory is pretty much guaranteed whatever side Wales put out, but what fans are looking for is a continuation of the style which promised so much against Scotland first up in the Six Nations last month.

Since then, though, Wales have fought a decent rearguard action against England and scored three tries against Ireland, they still came up short and showed certain limitations.

For a start, the key No.10 position has been far from resolved after three players have been tried there.

Patchell shone like a beacon against Scotland after starting at 10 and carried on his regional form with the Scarlets in the red jersey of Wales.

Varying his game, he ran good angles, put players into space, kicked neatly and proved a real handful. He rightly kept his place against England, but this time faltered, pressurised and hesitant until Gatland took him off, replaced by Gareth Anscombe, who switched from full-back.

Anscombe actually looked the part in a cameo appearance, but for the Irish test Dan Biggar was fit, recovered from his shoulder injury, spending ten days in an oxygen tent to speed up the recovery process.

That left Gatland to choose between Biggar, Patchell and Anscombe at 10, and, understandably, given Wales were facing the marauding Irish in Dublin ,he plumped for Biggar and his experience, particularly as defence would be key.

But Biggar disappointed, maybe not quite fit, maybe put off his game as Ireland closed in on him, and certainly criticised for his constant arguing with the referee, frequently questioning his decisions.

Biggar has got form for this and TV pundit Martyn Williams, for one, says he did little else for the first hour and his actions were not acceptable.

Gatland should now revert to Patchell for the Italian job, telling him to play it his way much as he did against Scotland in an attempt to re-ignite Welsh back play.

It’s inconceivable that he could go from being one of the star performers against Scotland to outside the match-day 23 altogether for the second half of the tournament

North will surely come back into the Wales starting line-up, too, after proving his fitness for his club Northampton following a series of injuries.

There is a debate about whether he should be switched to the centre, but wing in his natural position. He caused havoc in the Irish defence after going on in Dublin, so that’s where he ought to play.

And up front Wales need more physicality. In the opening two games the increased mobility of the pack was very much in evidence, offloading well, with Aaron Shingler, Josh Navidi and Cory Hill proving they are at home in the Welsh jersey.

But against Ireland the pack was out-muscled and outplayed, struggling to get into the game as an Irish eight without Tadgh Furlong, Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip, who, in fact, has now been forced to retire, took them on and won comfortably.

So, Gatland needs to provide the pack with some more steel and also extra pace, the type which Bradley Davies, fit again Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric can provide.

Hooker Elliot Dee could also be given his first start with Ken Owens possibly needing a break and also to bring on another player in the position.

So, while there won’t be widespread panic or alarm, Gatland has got to make around half-a-dozen changes as he seeks to provide more depth. Italy will be the ideal opportunity to do just that.