James O'Connor scores one of what will surely be many World Cup tries
Australia 32-6 Italy
Matthew Rye
Deputy Sports Editor
After the somewhat shaky performances by several other top teams in the
tournament so far, Australia delivered a devastating second half performance,
sending a message to all other teams to sit up and take notice. Tries from Ben
Alexander , Adam Ashley-Cooper, James O’Connor and Digby Ioane helped
Robbie Deans’ side to a 32-6 victory against a pugnacious Italian side.
Coming off the back of a Tri-Nations victory, and sporting an irrepressible
Queensland Reds-flavoured backline, the winners of the Super 15 this year,
one would be a brave soul to bet against Australia running away with this one,
especially considering Italy’s difficulty in scoring tries in recent matches.
As an analyst, this looked like an open-and-shut case, with Italy trying to slow
the tempo down, play for territory and limit the potent Aussie backline to few
opportunities. Italy, evidently, hadn’t read the script.
The game started in a flurry of penalties, turnovers, and counter-attacking
with both scrumhalves attempting several tap penalties to keep the opposition
defenses guessing. After flirting with a high tempo, and an active Alain Roland
whistle, the Italian pack started to take more control of the game. They squeezed the Wallabies’ set piece, and with halfbacks Orquera and Semenzato playing for territory they limited Quade Cooper and co. to few opportunities.
The Italian defence came up very quickly and very strong for most of the first
half, something which Aussie outhalf Cooper proved in the past he does not like.
The tenacious Italian defence continued to hammer the Wallaby backs, resulting
in a lack of gainline possession, leaving Cooper and fullback Kurtley Beale
playing into Italy’s hands and fighting for territory.
Although the Aussie scrum looked questionable at best for the most part,
something which Italian coach Nick Mallet would have targeted prior to kickoff, there was an overwhelming feeling that the Italian defence would tire, and this
dangerous Aussie backline would begin to click.
Following a Mirco Bergomasco missed penalty, the athletic Australian pack
began to dominate proceedings, with Radike Samo, James Horwill, and Rocky
Elsom combining to give Quade Cooper two penalty opportunities, which he
comfortably slotted to give Australia a 6-0 lead after half an hour.
Italy clawed their way back into the game however and due to some fantastic
continuity and ball recycling, managed to nab two penalties in the last ten
minutes to level the scoreboard going into the second half.
The second half continued where the first left off; with the Italian pack slowing
the ball down considerably and their defence tackling relentlessly, with blindside Alessandro Zanni leading the charge. Enter James O’Connor for Anthony Faingaa on 47 minutes, which turned out to be the key turning point in the game.
Straight away, there was a spring in the step of the Aussies, and all of a sudden there’s an extra option for Cooper and scrum-half Genia at every turn. There’s too much speed, power and direction for the Italian defence. Ben Alexander crashed over after some beautiful handling skills, and organisational play from Cooper. James O’Connor gave the Aussies more
gain line possession; allowing more time for Cooper, from which he can be
devastating.
Five minutes later, Cooper sends Adam Ashley-Cooper under the
posts after more fantastic build up play for James O’Connor. The 22 year-old
slotted the extras to stretch the lead to 18-6, and Italy had no response for the
Australian annihilation.
O’Connor scrambled over for another before the hour mark, completeing
the third- quarter blowout for the Wallabies, who now led 25-6. The Italians
wouldn’t be the same team chasing the game, and began to take more risks,
allowing Kurtley Beale and Digby Ioane to showcase their talents.
Australia capped off a ruthless second half performance with the try of the
tournament so far, as Ioane beat three defenders and slid under the posts off a
scrum and another perfectly timed inside ball from Cooper.
After attaining the bonus point, and a comfortable 32-6 lead, the Australians
shutout the Italians, using their blinding back-row speed and continuity, and
they saw out the victory with consummate style and precision.
Questions answered for Robbie Deans include a resounding yes for whether or
not James O’Connor should be allowed to start after his misconduct prior to the
World Cup, and a resounding maybe over whether the Wallabies’ scrum is up to
the standard.
A standout performance from the Aussie bench leaves Deans with a nice dilemma in the already heated competition for Aussie places. Scott
Higginbottom, Luke Burgess and James Slipper all made noteworthy
contributions.
Italy shouldn’t be disheartened with the landslide result, because for 50 minutes, they were in the game, but they didn’t have enough to cope with the force of the Wallaby attack. They probably won’t be the only team that falls short of the Australian flair this year – they will test any team they come across.
From an Irish perspective, it was thoroughly intimidating to see not just the
speed and precision of the Aussie attack, but also the ferocity if their tackling, the commitment level of their pursuits. Not to mention their unparalleled strength in depth. Their scalp will be the most coveted this autumn, and they have impressed more so than any other team in the opening fixtures so far.
