Wallabies see off spirited Italy

Australia returned to the victory trail but were made to work hard before securing a 40-27 triumph over Italy in Brisbane on Saturday.

After suffering a shock defeat to Scotland in Sydney last week, the Wallabies were determined to secure this result but they only achieved that goal late in the second half after staving off a brave fightback from the Azzurri.

The Wallabies eventually ourscored the visitors six tries to three with late five-pointers from Bernard Foley and Reece Hodge clinching the win.

A brace of tries from Israel Folau and another five-pointer from Sefa Naivalu helped the Wallabies to a 21-13 lead at half-time with Michele Campagnaro crossing the whitewash for the Azzurri during that period.

Italy had the better of the early exchanges and took the lead in the second minute courtesy of a Tomasso Allan penalty.

Five minutes later, the Azzurri thought they had extended their lead when Dean Budd went over the whitewash from close quarters but his effort was ruled out when the television match official ruled that Giovambattista Venditti had put a foot into touch before throwing the final pass to Budd.

That decison proved costly to the visitors as the Wallabies soon took control of proceedings and in the 14th minute Naivalu turned on the afterburners on a 40 metre run before diving over in the left-hand corner for the opening try.

Foley added the extras and two minutes later, Folau got his name onto the scoresheet when he dotted down in the same corner after gathering a pass from Dane Haylett-Petty.

Allan reduced the deficit via penalty in the 28th minute before a a well-timed long pass from Karmichael Hunt found Folau in space and he had an easy run-in for his second try.

That score was a significant one as it meant Folau became the first Wallaby to score multiple tries in three successive Tests after he also scored two tries apiece against Fiji and Scotland.

Five minutes later, Italy reduced the deficit when Campagnaro gathered a pass from Venditti before outpacing the cover defence to cross for his side's first try.

The second half started brightly for the hosts when Hunt got a pass out to Naivalu who crossed for his second try in the 47th minute but the Wallabies did not take advantage of their early domination which allowed Italy to come back into the game.

The visitors reduced the deficit in the 64th minute when a cross kick from Allan was knocked on by Haylett-Petty close to his tryline and Padovani gathered the loose ball before crossing for an easy five-pointer.

Five minutes later, Tommaso Benvenuti intercepted a wayward Wallabies pass before racing away to score his side's third try and Allan added the conversion which meant the match was evenly poised with Australia holding a slender 28-27 lead.

There was plenty of drama in the final 10 minutes as first Toby Smith was yellow carded for illegal scrummaging in the 71st minute and shortly afterwards, Braam Steyn followed him to the sin bin for illegally collapsing a maul close to his tryline.

Australia finished stronger and extended their lead when Foley crossed for what proved to be the match-winning try in the 78th minute and Hodge's late try was the final nail in the Azzurri's coffin.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Naivalu 2, Folau 2, Foley, Hodge
Cons:  Foley 5
Yellow Card:  Smith

For Italy:
Tries:  Campagnaro, Padovani, Benvenuti
Cons:  Allan 3
Pens:  Allan 2
Yellow Card:  Steyn

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Karmichael Hunt, 11 Sefa Naivalu, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Toby Smith, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Sam Carter, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Reece Hodge

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Andries van Schalkwyk, 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Francesco Minto (c), 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Ornel Gega, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Cane, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)