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If ever there was a game that delivered up few surprises it would be tonight in Florence. Everything that you could expect happened: The Wallabies incurring numerous scrum penalties, the Italians uninspiring in attack, the Wallabies poor in execution, and the game mostly coming down to penalties. While the Wallabies prevailed over Italy 32-14, it was hardly a game to get inspired about.
Australia started well with a Berrick Barnes penalty and a Drew Mitchell try bringing them out to a 10-0 lead. All of the play was going Australia’s way at this point. An Italian 3-pointer not long after was quickly followed by another Australian penalty bringing things to 13-3 at the quarter mark. This is where things started to get a bit messy. Australia had a number of wasted opportunities; pushed passes and knock-ons. Italy made the most of their opportunities with two penalties bringing the score to 13-9 at half-time.
The start of the second half continued on with the dour fashion that the first finished in. In the next 30 minutes the Wallabies accepted their shortcomings in try scorings and started playing Italy on their own terms; with the boot. Berry Barnes kicked three consecutive penalties to bring the Wallabies out to a 22-9 advantage.
Then came the moment of surprise. Italy actually scored a try, albeit a somewhat dodgy one. From a dominant Italian scrum, Sergio Parisse knocked on into the Australian back row only for Robbie Barbieri to rumble over the line for an unconverted try. The Wallabies still held a a healthy 8 point lead with less than 10 minutes to go. These ten minutes were fairly unamazing, ending in a Rocky Elsom try from a loose ball out of an Italian scrum in the 81st minute. The Wallabies finishing the game 32-14 winners.
The Wash-Up:
The match delivered roughly what was expected. Nothing too inspiring. The positives were that Australia performed better than the last two meets in Italy in 2008 and 2006. The negatives were that the Wallabies just didn’t show the ruthless streak needed to consistently win tests. The scrum struggled and leaked a few penalties. Where they should’ve put the sword to Italy in the first half, they let the opposition back into the game for no reason other than a poor scrum and an inability to convert pressure into points.
This seems to be the defining differences between the All Blacks and the Wallabies at the moment. The Wallabies backs seem to have more X-factor but the ABs are just far superior at converting that pressure into points. Where the All Blacks would score a try and a conversion the Wallabies are lucky to get a penalty. This is an area that will need to be seriously addressed in order to be a real threat in next years World Cup.
One thing this game did prove, however, was that Italy won’t provide much threat next year. They’ll be a good workout for the forwards and a litmus test of how our scrum is fairing but there really is no serious threat out of the Italians.
Bring on France next week. More of the same style of forward play, only this time with the backs that can pose a real threat. This will be a good indicator of how accurate the England game is of where we are at. A tidy win over France would reaffirm our status as genuine contenders. Another loss will demand a long hard look at ourselves.
Man of the Match:
For Italy the player who clearly had the most impact was Martin Castrogiovanni. MC scored a good three or four penalties against an inexperienced James Slipper. This dominance diminished in the second half. Castrogiovanni’s front row partners in crime also deserve an honourable mention. As previously said, this was the only area where Italy had the upper hand.
For Australia two players stood out. This is no real surprise because it’s the same two players who have stood out all tour. David Pocock and Nathan Sharpe. It came as no surprise as these two were the first two players benched- Deans clearly protecting his valued players. Sharpie was immense around the field- taking restarts cleanly, pressuring the Italian line-out, and constantly making metres over the gain line. Pocock had a quite a good game. The Italian backrow had him closely watched all night, but he was in everything and he game room to the players around him. One of these boys really needs to take over as skipper because at the moment Elsom just isn’t cutting the mustard.
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Originally Posted by Coach
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