Schmidt calls on Wallabies to ‘demonstrate some character’

Joe Schmidt has called on the Wallabies to “demonstrate some character” in their final two Test matches of the year, as they look to bounce back from a shock 26-19 Autumn Nations Series defeat to Italy in Udine.

Following last weekend’s 18-point defeat to England, the Wallabies flew to Italy ahead of their first clash with the Azzurri in three years. Australia suffered a 28-27 defeat in Florence during the team’s 2022 Spring Tour, but a lot has changed between then and now.

With a different coach, a new captain and a host of changes between the two lineups, many would’ve labelled the Wallabies as the favourites going into this Test, but it was the same result as the Italians recorded their second consecutive win in this match-up.

Fly-half Paolo Garbisi scored 16 of Italy’s points off the goal-kicking tee, as the home side hung on for another famous win over the Wallabies. This was Australia’s eighth loss of 2025, and their fifth defeat from their last six matches.

The Wallabies have two more Tests to play this year before their campaign draws to a close, with Ireland up next in Dublin before a clash with France in a fortnight. As Schmidt explained after Saturday’s seven-point loss, “we’ve got to go after” what would be upset wins

“Any loss is disappointing and we’ve accumulated a few now. Where do we go from here? I think we have to demonstrate some character and also some cohesion,” Schmidt said post-game.

“Carter [Gordon] was good today but he’s new in and I felt like we lacked a bit of cohesion in the first half and then in the second half we kind of overplayed because we fell behind.

“We’ve got to build that cohesion and we’ve got to demonstrate that real fight that we’ve demonstrated earlier in the season. I know it’s still there.

“We’ve had 13 Test matches, we’ve got two left. They’re two incredibly important Test matches against two big teams, both ranked in that top four in the world so we’ve got to go after those.”

Garbisi kicked Italy ahead with an early penalty, before doubling the home side’s advantage with a second successful shot at the uprights in the 10^th minute. While it wasn’t immediately, the Wallabies ended up striking back with back-to-back tries to Matt Faesleer and Angus Bell.

The Wallabies went from 6-0 down early on to 12-6 ahead by the 32^nd minute. Garbisi added another three points to the Azzurri’s score just before the half-time break, but the Australians still held a slender lead before the second 40.

Garbisi drew the teams level with a fourth penalty early in the second term, but the Wallabies regained the lead through returning fly-half Carter Gordon. Australia led by seven before Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was shown a yellow card with about 20 minutes to play.

Italy made the most of their one-man advantage, with Monty Ioane giving the hosts the lead after an earlier effort from Louis Lynagh. The Azzurri took control on the scoreboard with 18 minutes left and hung on for the hard-earned triumph.

“That hurts and that’s not disrespectful to a really good Italian team. We knew they’re going to be good,” Schmidt explained.

“We’d watched their Six Nations games, 42-24 against South Africa in South Africa is really competitive, so we knew it was going to be competitive this evening.

“We just felt probably when we scored those couple of tries and went 12-9 up that the accumulation of penalties was tough. When you concede 13 penalties and a yellow card, it’s just hard to have enough control in the game.

“When we fell behind, I felt that we overchased the game. We got very lateral in attack and our kicking game probably wasn’t as good as it needs to be. I think we put the ball out on the full four times which just means that you don’t get that territorial advantage and get to pressure them.

“Between those penalties, those missed kicks for touch and then probably overplaying in that last quarter and getting lateral. Obviously, that yellow card was a turning point – it was a lead up to them scoring that try that brought the two teams level and gave them the advantage of an extra man which is tough when they’re playing well and we’re battling away.”