Australia 31 Italy 8:A James O'Connor hat-trick inspired the Wallabies to a comfortable victory over a gallant Italy in freezing conditions at Canberra Stadium.
O’Connor, making his run-on debut, crossed twice in the opening half-hour as the hosts built a 17-3 lead before the break.
The Wallabies suffered an early setback when Kaine Robertson scored the visitors’ only try in the 43rd minute, but they reasserted their dominance when Stirling Mortlock barged over with half an hour to play.
And when their 18-year-old prodigy crossed for his third 10 minutes later, victory was assured for the hosts to the delight of the 22,468 supporters who braved the icy temperatures.
Rugby League convert Craig Gower was heavily involved is his side’s only try, but the former Kangaroos captain had a mixed night on his maiden Test voyage.
Italy had no answer for a well-worked set move which saw Matt Giteau put Lachie Turner into open pasture with a beautifully timed ball, before the right winger unselfishly unloaded to O’Connor for an early 5-0 lead.
Despite the dream start the Wallabies soon knew they were in a battle with Turner knocked out cold in a heavy collision, while a number of his team-mates also found themselves on the receiving end of some heavy defence.
The arm-wrestle continued as both sides struggled to hold onto possession before O’Connor made it a double after 29 minutes.
Giteau was again the provider as he drifted on the outside of two defenders to put the youngster over out wide.
The in-form outhalf continued to terrorise the Azzurri, crossing four minutes later to make it 17-0 the hosts’ way.
Berrick Barnes slipped through some tired defence and popped a ball inside which struck Giteau on the knee and bounced straight into his arms to send him over under the posts.
Italy scrumhalf Pablo Canavosio made up for his dreadful first-half service to Gower when he scorched through a gap only to be denied by some desperate cover defence.
The visitors stayed on the attack but had to settle for a Luke McLean penalty to head into the interval trailing 17-3.
They didn’t have to wait long for their first five-pointer as Gower exploded down the short-side and delivered a one-arm flick for Robertson who beat three defenders to dot down three minutes in.
Mortlock looked certain to score four minutes later but Adam Ashley-Cooper could not find his captain with the line wide open.
But the skipper took matters into his own hands on his next possession with a trademark burst through four defenders to score under the black dot.
Giteau’s conversion made it 24-8 the Wallabies’ way.
The onslaught continued when O’Connor brushed off Italy captain Sergio Parisse to bring up his hat-trick to put the result beyond any doubt with just over 20 minutes remaining.
