Australia in routine win against Italy

Australia 34 Italy 12

A remodelled Wallabies line-up comfortably accounted for Italy at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne today night in a display that was more pragmatic than dynamic.

Man-of-the-match Adam Ashley-Cooper, who started on the bench, finished with two tries, one in each half, after coming on initially when Peter Hynes was blood-binned, then as a replacement for James O'Connor at full-back.

Three first-half tries gave the Wallabies a 20-6 lead at the break and that was a fair reflection of the difference between the teams, but the hosts were held at bay for much of the second half before late tries to Lachie Turner and Ashley-Cooper.

Australia-born full-back Luke McLean landed four penalties for Italy for whom fellow Aussie and former NRL star Craig Gower was effective and creative in his second start at fly-half.

O'Connor's hands, so sure in his run-on debut last week, failed him with his first touch in the opening minute when he fumbled a straightforward up-and-under.

It was a timely wake-up call for the 18-year-old whose ball-handling thereafter was exemplary.

A Wallabies offside in the wake of O'Connor's howler gifted the Italians a penalty from the 22 almost directly in front which McLean duly converted for the first score of the match.

The visitors' lead didn't last long, however.

When Tito Tebaldi mishandled in midfield the Wallabies surged forward and quick hands from the ruck followed by a cut-out pass from Quade Cooper created a four-on-one advantage in the right corner.

Turner seemed certain to score before dishing off to Tatafu Polota-Nau who fell over the line for his first Test try.

O'Connor's conversion attempt from the touchline swung well wide, but he made no mistake with a penalty from a much kinder angle 10 minutes on to make it 8-3 for Australia.

Ryan Cross, one of eight inclusions for this match, was the creator and finisher of the Wallabies' next try when he won a turnover in midfield.

The ball passed through several sets of hands before a neat flick inside by O'Connor gave Cross a clear path to the line to make it 15-3 after O'Connor's conversion.

McLean managed to put through a penalty for Italy but missed two further attempts that could, perhaps should, have gone through.

The Wallabies compounded the visitors' wastefulness on the stroke of half-time when Ashley-Cooper put Turner clear after a slicing run.

The winger burst down the right touchline and shovelled the ball back when brought down within sight of the line for Ashley-Cooper to gather and score in the corner.

Australia's 20-6 half-time lead was trimmed by three when Berrick Barnes' failure to roll away in the tackle in the fifth minute of the second half gifted McLean a penalty from 15 metres out directly in front.

The Wallabies failed to impress over the next 15 minutes as a succession of raids, half-breaks and near-things were effectively stymied by the Azzurri.

When McLean landed his fourth penalty from 40 metres, all of a sudden it was 20-12 and Italy was not without a chance with 18 minutes still to play.

The Wallabies finally roused, however, in the final 10 minutes when first Turner, then Ashley-Cooper managed to score under the posts.

Cooper set up Turner's try when he attracted three tacklers and popped up a pass for Turner with the line beckoning.