FLORENCE: It all looked too easy for the Wallabies in the first 40 minutes and it was. The Wallabies nearly surrendered a 16 point first-half lead and survived a vibrant fightback from Italy to scrape home by three points on Saturday.

A disciplined, commanding first-half effort from Australia was turned on its head after the break by Italy, who dominated possession and territory and pressured the Wallabies's scrum. Poor discipline from the visitors helped the home side close the gap to three points with 25 minutes left to play.

Australia repeatedly turned the ball over in the Italians's half and were only let out of jail with a minute to go after Italian five-eighth Luciano Orquera missed a shot at goal from 40 metres out that would have equalised the scores at 22 points a piece.

The first-half arm wrestle teams have come to expect from the Azzurri instead came in the final quarter of the match as the Wallabies desperately defended their three-point buffer.

The Italians came out with ears pricked from the break, sending flanker Robert Barbieri over for a controversial try and milking Australia for a further six points from penalty goals while holding the visitors scoreless for the second-half.

It was a poor start to the second-half after an encouraging first 40 minutes from the Wallabies. Winger Nick Cummins scored his second Test try in the 19th minute, while Berrick Barnes and Kurtley Beale did not miss a combined 17 points on offer with the boot, sending the Wallabies into the sheds in front 22-6.

Second-row Sitaleki Timani faced a nervous wait after putting a forearm on the jaw of an opposition player during one of many heated moments on field, but after the match he was not cited for the incident.

Centre Adam Ashley-Cooper and flanker Michael Hooper put in excellent defensive performances, as did forwards Wycliff Palu and Timani.

But the fairytale ended prematurely for first-time starting halfback Brett Sheehan, who injured his ankle in a tackle and was forced off the field in the 31st minute, to be replaced by Nick Phipps.

The pointscoring started early with an Orquera penalty giving Italy a 3-0 lead in the third minute but a Barnes penalty soon after had Australia level.

Barnes kicked another penalty on the quarter hour and Italy were made to pay for slack defence with only Australia's second try of the tour which came from Cummins after a simple shift to the right edge opened up space for the Western Force flyer.

Barnes kicked the conversion and followed up with a penalty in the 24th minute to put the Wallabies firmly in the lead.

Despite their best attempts Italy were struggling to get out of their own half and fell further behind when Kurtley Beale kicked a penalty and then followed up with a second when breakaway Alessandro Barbieri was shown a yellow card.

An Orquera penalty minutes before the end of the first half brought the scores to 6-22 but to their credit Italy emerged with intent for the second period.

Only a minute after the restart Barbieri claimed the Azzurri's try when he ran into the in-goal area to touch down after the ball had been kicked through, with Orquera converting.

When Orquera kicked a penalty to take the scores to 16-22, the fighback was on.

The confidence did wonders for Italy, who while still dominating at the scrum, had the Wallabies pinned back as they began finally to create promising passing sequences.

Italy had Australia stuck mostly in their own half, until Ashley-Cooper's made a superb break and took Australia to within 10 metres of the tryline in the dying minutes.

But as the clock ticked down Australia, still in possession, invited boos and whistles around the Artemio Franchi Stadium when Berrick Barnes kicked the ball into touch, effectively ending the game.

The Wallabies will be relieved with the win but look vulnerable to aggressive opposition at the set piece and breakdown, facts that will be noted by Wales ahead of their final Test of the tour in Cardiff next weekend.

AUSTRALIA 22 (Nick Cummins try Berrick Barnes con Barnes 3, Kurtley Beale 2 pens) bt ITALY 19 (Robert Barbieri try Luciano Orquera con 4 pens) at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Referee: Lourens van der Merwe.

with Agencies