Match Centre: Italy 28-27 Australia

Italy 28-27 Australia, Florence

Replacement flyhalf Ben Donaldson's late conversion went wide as Australia suffered a one-point defeat to Italy in the fixture in Florence on Saturday.

The opening six minutes saw Tomasso Allan and Noah Lolesio exchange penalties as the scores were levelled 3-3 but the 16th minute saw the Wallabies reduced to 14 players temporarily for obstructing an Italian player.

The Azzurri immediately made use of the numerical advantage as Pierre Bruno dived in the corner and Allan kicked the extras to make it 10-3. With the momentum on their side, the home side took control with their second try coming in the 26th minute and once again Allan was spot on with the extras extending their lead to 14 points.

Just as the Wallabies returned to full strength, Tom Wright with a dive in the corner helped them reduce the arrears to nine points at the end of the opening half.

Dave Rennie's side were the quickest to get off the block in the second half as Fraser McReight and Tom Robertson went over either side of Capuozzo's second of the day taking the scoreline to 25-22.

Replacement fly-half Edoardo Padovani with a crucial three-pointer stretched Italy's lead to six points and with the clock ticking in red Cadeyrn Neville dived over to keep the crowd quiet but debutant Donaldson missed the all important conversion as Italy completed a thrilling 28-27 win.

"It means a lot for the boys, they grafted hard all game and we dug deep," said Stephen Varney.

"We are building well, we have very good coaches. We are proud to be part of this team and have great leaders.

"Capuozzo is an amazing payer, he has turned up all year and put in strong performances. Im really happy for him."