Dylan Thomas, the finest word mitherer ever produced by Wales, once wrote, “Isn’t life a terrible thing, thank God?”. The nation’s rugby fans have no need to endlessly explore their tortured souls like a poet to know what he means. However, like Thomas’s character Polly Garter who spoke those words, there can be a unifying, inspiring purpose and strange pride to be harvested from what others judge of your pitiful state. This is what Warren Gatland and his team must find today as they walk out in Rome to what is clearly their best chance to end the very-unlucky-for-them thirteen game run of defeats.

Italy will be similarly motivated to defibrillate some life into their tournament after a spluttering display in the loss to Scotland. They are in front of a home crowd with memories of wins over the men in red in two of their last three meetings. Expectations will rightly be running high for a settled squad against a Wales team at perhaps their lowest ebb since the game turned professional in the mid 1990s.

Everything regarding form and levels of fandom hope points to a victory for the Azzurri, but the visitors today will recall that the two recent defeats were of the tiniest margin, and also puzzlingly not in Rome but in Cardiff. It feels like crumbs of comfort, probably because it is.

One team’s life will be remain a terrible thing soon enough, find out which one with me here.