Joseph Suaalii‘s ill-discipline has come under fire after a costly yellow card in the Wallabies‘ shock Test loss to Italy in Udine. Australia’s top-six hopes for the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw suffered another major blow after they went down 26-19 to Italy, in a performance described as ‘a mess’ from Wallabies captain Harry Wilson.
The Italians claimed their second-straight Test victory against the Wallabies after trailing by three points at halftime. The home side ruthlessly capitalised on the second half sin-binning of Suaalli by crossing for two tries in quick succession to wrap up the win, consigning the Aussies to another Test defeat after their humbling loss to England last weekend.
Italy scored two tries in quick succession to seal a shock Test win against the Wallabies after a costly yellow card for Joseph Suaalii. Pic: Getty/Stan Sport
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt admitted his side’s lack of discipline was particularly costly, with Australia conceding 13 penalties to the Italians’ seven. And the Wallabies coach labelled the second half yellow card to former NRL star Suaalii – for a high tackle metres out from their own tryline – as a ‘turning point’ in the Test.
“We’ll have a look at some of those penalties, some of them we definitely have to sort out,” Schmidt said. “The yellow card, Joseph has to go lower, he can’t afford to tackle up around. Even though the player is dropping, you can’t take that risk. You’ve got to go low, so some of those penalties are definitely on us and others we’ll have a closer look at.”
The latest defeat dented much of the momentum the Wallabies had built up after memorable victories against South Africa and the British and Irish Lions earlier this year. But Schmidt urged Wallabies fans to keep faith in the side after insisting they’re building towards something special.
“I believe in the group we’ve got, think there’s still a lot of work to do to get them to where they need to be,” Schmidt added. “I’ve had lots of experience coaching a lot of Test matches and had teams that have been number one in the world and I know what it takes to get there, and I know the strength and depth that you need… we’re setting about trying to build that.
“We’ll reflect on what we put out there tonight, what we can build on and what we need to make sure we improve upon. All I can say to people is that we believe in what we can deliver. Don’t lose faith because we will guarantee to keep working as hard as we can to try to demonstrate what it means to us to try to be as competitive as possible.”
Italy’s second-straight win over Australia consigned the Wallabies to a sixth defeat in their past eight Tests. Pic: Getty
Captain Harry Wilson says Wallabies breakdown was a ‘mess’
Wallabies skipper Wilson lamented his side’s sloppiness at the breakdown, as Italy showed greater intent and better execution than their Aussie counterparts throughout the Test. “We’re hurting,” Wilson admitted after the loss. “We wanted to fix up from last week. We said we were going to fix it up and we didn’t.
“The breakdown was a mess tonight. Credit to Italy, they made it a mess. There was a bit of a lottery in there, and they really benefited from there.” Schmidt conceded he was ‘gutted’ after the shock loss, and admitted the Wallabies have a couple of massive Tests coming up against Ireland and France that could have major ramifications for the side.
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Australia’s sixth defeat in their past eight Tests leaves them currently ranked seventh in the world standings and comes as a fresh hammer blow ahead of next month’s 2027 Rugby World Cup draw. The Wallabies will likely need to beat Ireland and France in their remaining two spring tour fixtures to snatch an all-important top-six seeding and avoid a dreaded ‘group of death’ scenario for their home World Cup.
with agencies