Late Australia surge help them to 40-27 win over Italy

Australia 40-27 Italy, Suncorp Stadium
Scorecard

Australia scored two tries in the final five minutes as they managed to overcome a stiff challenge from Italy with a 40-27 triumph at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

Tommaso Allan got Italy off the mark with a second minute penalty but Sefanaia Naivalu and Israel Folau crossed over for the hosts in the 13th and 16th minute respectively while Bernard Foley added the conversions to make it 14-3.

Even though another penalty from Allan reduced the margin to eight points, Folau responded with his second try that came in the 29th minute and Australia looked dominant with a 15 point lead. However, Michele Campagnaro went past the line at the stroke of half time as Italy reduced the trail to eight points at the end of the first half.

Australia had the momentum heading into the second half and Naivalu's second try restored their 15 point lead before Italy bounced back with a try each from Edoardo Padovani and Tommaso Benvenuti. A double conversion from Allan meant the difference between the two teams was down to one point heading into the final 10 minutes.

The final phase of the game saw both the teams reduced to 14-men after Australia's Toby Smith and Italy's Braam Steyn were sin-binned in the 73rd and 75th minutes respectively. This is when tries from Foley and Reece Hodge ensured the Wallabies completed a 13 point victory.