UDINE, Italy (AP) — Two players with Australian heritage helped Italy to sink the Wallabies 26-19 in Udine on Saturday.
Louis Lynagh, the son of Wallabies great Michael Lynagh, and Melbourne-born Monty Ioane, the nephew of former Wallabies winger Digby Ioane, scored back-to-back tries in Italy’s comeback victory.
Italy had never beaten Australia in 20 matches until 2022. But Saturday’s result proved the win in Florence three years ago was not a fluke.
“This team has reached the point of maturity where it can win matches it wouldn’t have won a few years ago,” said Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada, who added the process began before he arrived.
“We didn’t need the perfect match, we needed to trust the process. Even with mistakes, avoidable fouls, and difficulties with throw-ins, we won. This is a huge step for the team, which needed confidence.”
Australia was looking for a rebound from a flat performance in the loss to England last weekend, and believed the addition of Tom Hooper and Carter Gordon would be enough of a boost. But after consecutive defeats coach Joe Schmidt was worried about his team’s energy at the end of the year with bigger games coming against Ireland and France.
“That’s a dip we can’t afford to have and we’ve got two massive games coming up now,” Schmidt told Stan Sport. “I think we’re going to have to just recuperate as best as we can and throw everything into the Irish game.”
Paolo Garbisi punished a sluggish start by Australia with two early penalties.
The Wallabies finally scored in the 21st through Matt Faessler in a driving maul and hit the front thanks to his fellow front-rower Angus Bell’s try
Garbisi’s third and fourth penalties tied the score on 12 just after halftime.
Gordon, returned from rugby league, marked his first Wallabies appearance in two years with a try after Australia captain Harry Wilson was stripped. Believing it was a knock-on, Quesada kicked the advertising boards in frustration when the TMO ruled no error. But Italy and the crowd were galvanized.
Gordon left five minutes later with a recurring quad injury.
The match turned in the 58th with Australia up 19-12 when center Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Garbisi.
In the space of three minutes, Lynagh finished a well-worked converted try to level the score and a Stephen Varney break finished by Ioane put Italy in front.
The last quarter was frantic. Australia’s Billy Pollard was held up over the line and Italy’s Federico Ruzza made an intercept but didn’t have the legs to reach the other end.
Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight pulled off steals for Australia but a turnover by Lorenzo Cannone sealed a precious Italy win.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
The Associated Press
