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Italy player ratings vs Australia | Quilter Nations Series 2025
By Ian Cameron
Italy player ratings: Italy produced one of their finest modern-day performances to stun Australia 26-19 in Udine.
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Trailing by 13 points early in the second half, the Azzurri roared back through tries from Louis Lynagh and Monty Ioane, while Paolo Garbisi’s flawless goal-kicking sealed a famous win to rock Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies.
Here’s how Gonzalo Quesada’s players rated:
1. Danilo Fischetti – 7
Scrummaged with his usual edge and carried hard into contact. Penalised once but set a solid tone before being replaced just after the hour mark.
2. Giacomo Nicotera – 6.5
A busy presence in defence and reasonably tidy at the lineout, aside from one or two miscues.
3. Simone Ferrari – 7
Anchored the scrum well early on and offered some resistance at the breakdown. Made way for Riccioni just before Italy’s surge began.
4. Niccolò Cannone – 8
A hard day’s graft in the engine room. Carried repeatedly into heavy traffic and led Italy’s lineout effort with authority. Tackled his guts out.
5. Andrea Zambonin – 7
Didn’t quite match Cannone’s impact but tackled relentlessly and gave Italy plenty of lineout stability.
6. Ross Vintcent – 7
Energetic across the park, chased kicks and made his presence felt at the breakdown. Replaced on 69 minutes after an industrious shift.
7. Manuel Zuliani – 8
One or two penalties conceded, but typically aggressive in contact. Helped Italy slow Wallaby possession during the comeback phase and was a massive pest at the breakdown.
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8. Lorenzo Cannone – 7.5
Powerful and direct, providing consistent go-forward when Italy were under pressure. A constant handful for Australian tacklers.
9. Stephen Varney – 9
Outstanding. Sparked Italy’s comeback with a sharp break to create Lynagh’s try and dictated tempo with real authority. His sniping runs, quick delivery and composure under pressure were central to Italy’s turnaround — his best Test in blue.
10. Paolo Garbisi – 8.5
Faultless off the tee with a 100 per cent return that ultimately separated the sides. Calm, composed and tactically mature – even taking a high tackle for Joseph Suaalii in the process of setting up Lynagh’s 58th-minute try.
11. Monty Ioane – 8
A thunderous performance from the Melbourne-born wing. Scored the decisive try, tackled fiercely, and carried with real menace. Would have scored higher but for a few missed tackles – most notably on Carter Gordon – and a couple of handling errors.
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12. Tommaso Menoncello – 7
A mixed outing from the centre. Defended stoutly but coughed up possession on a few key carries, stalling Italy’s momentum at times. Worked hard, though, evidenced by a key ruck turnover. Worryingly for Italy, he looked to have picked up an injury in the dying moments of the game.
13. Juan Ignacio Brex – 7.5
Superb defensive reads, especially late on. Organised the line and forced Australia wide, where they ran out of ideas. A few discipline lapses blotted the copybook.
14. Louis Lynagh – 8.5
Bounced Andrew Kellaway to score a brilliant momentum-shifting try against his father’s old side. The former Harlequins was busy under the high ball and full of energy throughout.
15. Ange Capuozzo – 7.5
Always threatening with ball in hand. His pace and footwork repeatedly unsettled the Australian defence. No quite squeaky clean in defence, but a key spark in Italy’s revival.
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Tommaso Di Bartolomeo – 6.5
Steady on set-piece duty after coming on, though lacked Nicotera’s mobility around the field.
17. Mirco Spagnolo – 8
Held firm at the scrum and his two late turnovers were outstanding.
18. Marco Riccioni – 7
Added stability in the closing stages and helped Italy see out the match in the tight exchanges.
19. Federico Ruzza – 7.5
Almost created a third try with a late intercept and offload. Brought energy and leadership off the bench.
20. Alessandro Izekor – NA
No on long enough to rate.
21. Martin Page-Relo – NA
Not on long enough to rate.
22. Tommaso Allan – NA
Unused.
23. Leonardo Marin – 6.5
On late but didn’t have enough time to influence proceedings.
