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The Wallabies would have pencilled in their match against Italy in Udine as a must-win, not just in terms of Rugby World Cup permutations and improving their success rate throughout 2025, but to reassure fans back home that they are still a rising force after the wheels appeared to wobble against England.
Lynagh (58'), Ioane (61')
Tries
Faessler (20'), Bell (31'), Gordon (50')
Garbisi (58', 62')
Conversions
Kellaway (32', 51')
Garbisi (6', 10', 36', 48')
Penalties
The Wallabies would have pencilled in their match against Italy in Udine as a must-win, not just in terms of Rugby World Cup permutations and improving their success rate throughout 2025, but to reassure fans back home that they are still a rising force after the wheels appeared to wobble against England.
Well, the wheels fell off against the Italians, who punished Australia at the breakdown, chipped away with penalty goals, and used their own Aussie strike force to finish off the capitulating Wallabies. Schmidt reassured Australians that this was merely a speed bump rather than a full breakdown.
But what can we take from this latest test that saw the Wallabies lose to a nation ranked below them?
We saw the Wallabies roll out the same tactic this weekend that didn’t work against England. Their attack was predictable. Pod charges with forwards playing the ball out the back were quickly sniffed out by the Azzurri and shut down effectively. It stymied the Wallabies’ ability to shift the ball wide to their attacking weapons in Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i and Corey Toole.
Led by Menoncello and Brex, the Italians shot out of the line to shut down any chance of getting the ball to players in space. It forced Jake Gordon to relieve pressure by kicking from the base of the ruck. The Wallabies’ tactical kicking was poor, a result of a forward pack unable to cross the advantage line and backs receiving the ball at a standstill.
To their credit, the Italians targeted the breakdown with relentless determination, disrupting any effort to launch a structured Wallabies attack. Schmidt now needs to rethink how his side plans to break through Ireland, who boast one of the most cohesive and effective defences in world rugby.
Losing Sua’ali’i to a yellow card was the last thing the Wallabies needed in that second half. Sua’ali’i has been pushing his luck all season. Coming from rugby league, he was taught first and foremost to secure the ball in the tackle to prevent an offload, and his first instinct is to go high every time.
What’s worse, his second instinct is to go for the game-changing shoulder charge. It was bound to land him in hot water eventually, so the Wallabies could consider themselves lucky he didn’t cop a red card. He’s defending in one of the toughest positions on the field, but he’ll need to refine his technique if he’s going to contain the likes of Ireland and France.
The chorus from Wallabies pundits will focus on the gruelling schedule that included two tests outside the international window. In truth, Schmidt has done his best to rotate the squad given the cattle available to him. Skipper Harry Wilson has featured in every test this year.
He has become a talismanic figure within the group and a symbol of the Wallabies’ grit and determination as they climb out of the rugby doldrums. There’s no doubt he puts his body on the line, but the stats from the Italy test show he made the most carries in the team yet only broke the line once. His game is built around sharp running lines and finding the opposition’s weak shoulder, but with the Wallabies’ inability to cross the gain line, he has become little more than a battering ram.
