WHAT a difference a win makes! The monkey is finally off the back, Wales have ended their eight-match run without a victory and suddenly all bets are on again and the team can head to Italy next week full of confidence.

Not only that, but Wales are suddenly blooming again, with the keys to No 10 handed back to James Hook after a two-year gap and the way he orchestrated the whole operation at Murrayfield on Saturday.

So from the depths of despair after the home defeat against England it’s back to the heights of a comparatively rare succcess in Scotland – it was ever thus with Wales.

Nevertheless, on the back of their Murrayfield success, coupled with the demoralising defeat Italy suffered at the hands of England at Twickenham, Wales can, indeed, head for Rome with a fair degree of optimism.

But the Stadio Flaminio has proved a banana skin for Wales in the past, losing there twice and drawing once, which is hardly a convincing record.

And the place has not been without its controversial incidents from a Welsh point of view, one after another in fact.

First there was the Colin Charvis episode, where then coach Steve Hansen decided to take off the Wales captain, so badly was it going.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Charvis was then seen to almost grin at the camera as it zooomed in on him on the touchline.

That was followed by the infamous last minute incident when referee Chris White informed Wales captain Gareth Thomas there was time for a line-out, Hook put the ball into touch but, on the intervention of the fourth official Geoff Warren, White blew for time before the line-out could be taken.

Pandemonium broke out, Thomas and fellow Welsh players remonstrating with the referee on the pitch, but the Italians weren’t bothered about that and were celebrating while Wales were protesting.

This time Wales need to be as fast out of the blocks as they were at Murrayfield, take the game by the scruff of the neck, take it away from the Italians and play some more flowing rugby.

Victory there can be followed by a home success against Ireland, who suffered the mortification of scoring three tries against France on Sunday only to lose the game.

Wales would then take a 3-1 success ratio to France for the Six Nations finale when the hosts could be going for their second successive Grand Slam, though England might have something to say about that next weekend in what could be the match of the tournament against the French.

Obviously, everyone is now going to take victory over Italy for granted but, just as with Wales last week after their England setback, the Azzurri are going to come under heavy pressure to perform and quite clearly their pride will be very much on the line.

All the cliches about being a wounded animal will be trotted out and Wales can expect an early onslaught, especially up front, where the Italians are at their strongest.

But the Italians’ Achilles heel, as it was with the Scots, is at half back where they have never adequately replaced players of the calibre of Dominguez and Troncon.

If young Welsh flankers Dan Lydiate and Sam Warburton, who earned rave reviews in Scotland, can operate the same pincer attack on the Italian pairing as they did on Rory Lawson and Dan Parks at Murrayfield Wales will be in business.

If anything, Lydiate was praised even more in the Scottish media on Sunday than man-of-the-match Warburton for his immense work in defence where his tackling was pivotal.

Other than that, Hook looked a far more skilful player, incisive and assured in attack as well, back to the instinctiveness which has characterised players of the past in his position.

And off the field, Hook was the perfect gent after the game, remaining behind way after everyone else in the Press conference, ever willing to give one interview after another, even though attempts were being made to shepherd him away because it was felt he had done enough.

It’s beginning to look a bit like the end for Stephen Jones at the age of 33 and just three caps short of the 100 mark, though he will obviously make the ton, even if it is through coming off the bench.

Jamie Roberts, too, got himself far more involved against Scotland and we should expect more of the same now, though the Cardiff Blues player and Jonathan Davies remain too similar in style for me.

But Gatland wants them both in his side and he’s not going to change now. In fact, apart from the possibility of Leigh Halfpenny returning from injury on the wing, there will be little alteration.

Gatland pointedly said post-match at Murrayfield that he will not be making 11 changes in a direct reference to what he did two years ago.

Then he rang the changes, basically to give his squad players an opportunity, and it took a Tom Shanklin try eight minutes from the end to secure victory in a real narrow squeak. So he’s not going to risk something similar happening again.

But a few words of caution – the Scots were too bad to be true, making one mistake after another, so it would be foolish to get too carried away.

And even if victory is secured at the Stadio Flaminio, the real tests will still be to come - Ireland and France.

Win those and Wales really could be back in business.