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The Wallabies have triumphed in a thrilling win over Italy 40-27 at Suncorp Stadium. There were some tense moments throughout for fans as handling errors and scrum penalties threatened to derail the Australians.
Michael Cheika will be greatly relieved with the result but there’s still plenty to work on ahead of the Rugby Championship.
To the Italians’ credit, they toiled hard throughout, dominating the opening 20 minutes and a large chunk of the second half.
When the Wallabies finally got a foothold in the match, it was through a Sefa Naivalu try against the overwhelming run of play.
Rob Horne drew in several defenders and put the winger in space who showed blinding speed to run 50 metres untouched to score.
Two tries to the effervescent Israel Folau shortly after looked to have restored the natural order for the home side.
Not to be outdone, Michele Campagnaro raced over before the break to keep the Azzurri in touch at 21-13.
The big talking point of the first half was a disallowed try for Italy when the TMO ruled that the attacker’s foot had just gone into touch before he offloaded.
It looked a harsh call at the time and took several minutes of deliberation.
In the second half, the Italians’ game plan was clear. Kick deep for field position, then pressure the Wallabies into errors.
It proved effective, with a try to Edoardo Padovani coming from a Dane Haylett-Petty fumble, then an intercept to Tommaso Benvenuti to bring the score to 28-27.
The Wallabies scrum struggled throughout and things looked grim when Toby Smith was sent to the sin bin for collapsing.
The home side finally found some composure in the final minutes, while Italy substitute Abraham Steyn also saw yellow for cynical spoiling at the ruck.
A close range try to Bernard Foley and a runaway down the left wing to Reece Hodge sealed the match.
Foley kicked five from six conversion attempts to flatter an otherwise patchy performance.
Australian fans demanded a win, and that’s what they got in the end. It offered plenty of entertainment, but even more heart palpitations along the way.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.