Luke McLean believes Italy have made a step forward during the Six Nations, despite ending up with the wooden spoon.

Nick Mallett's side ended their campaign with a 33-10 defeat at the hands of Wales in Cardiff yesterday which, allied to Scotland's victory in Ireland, saw them slide to the foot of the table.

But Calvisano back McLean, who scored the visitors' only try at the Millennium Stadium, believes the table is not a fair reflection of the progress Italy have made.

He said: "There has been a progression. From last year's Six Nations there has been a big improvement.

"We didn't play how we wanted against Ireland and France was another tough one for us. But we could have beaten England, we felt we should have won that game, and it would have made it a really good Six Nations for us.

"We won against Scotland, which we had to do, and maybe that could have opened things up a bit for us. We are not too far away."

McLean also believes the addition of two Italian sides to the Magners League from the start of next season will further increase the Azzurri's competitiveness.

"It is a great thing for Italian rugby. It had to happen," he said.

"You can keep having the Super 10 (Italy's domestic championship) every year but we haven't been progressing.

"Hopefully the boys can go well in the first couple of years, although it will be tough initially."

But the 22-year-old did admit that the heavy defeat in the Welsh capital had been a poor display as Italy failed to capitalise on a promising start that saw them dominate territory and possession.

Having trailed 12-0 at the break to four Stephen Jones penalties, Italy were cut apart in the second period as centre James Hook crossed twice for the home side and Shane Williams registered his 51st try for his country before McLean grabbed his late consolation.

"It was pretty tough," he said. "In the last 20 minutes the boys were pretty tired. In the first half-hour we made a lot of tackles and had to deal with a lot of pressure on our own line which meant it was pretty hard going by the end.

"We had a lot of possession in that first 10 minutes. It was important to try and get three or six points or even a try, maybe getting the ball wide, but it didn't happen.

"After that we gave away stupid penalties, which let them back in the game, and that's what we have been doing. We get down in their 40 and we give away a penalty and we end up back in our own 22 and we are under the pump."

Flanker Mauro Bergamasco, who was sent to the sin bin after clearing Hook out illegally at a ruck, agreed with McLean's assessment of the game but was proud of the fight shown in adversity.

The Stade Francais openside said: "We knew it would be a tough game. We started in the right way and put a lot of pressure on them but a few errors cost us.

"But we played for the full 80 minutes, scored a try and we stuck together as a side.

"We know Wales can be dangerous but we battled well and I think the margin of victory did not reflect the way the game went. But we know we can play at a high level."

The 30-year-old also believes referee Wayne Barnes was wrong to give him a yellow card.

He said: "I don't want to talk about the referee. I think in this moment it was not a penalty and not a sin-bin."