Wallabies v Italy LIVE UPDATES: Australia look to bounce back after losses to France and Ireland

The dominance of territory and possession for the Wallabies is seen in some crazy stats from the opening 40 minutes.

The Italians have had to make 154 tackles to the Wallabies 45.

And the visitors have only carried for 58 metres, from 32 carries.

But the Wallabies have been poor in second halves, haven’t they? It’s nil-all for the Aussies.

The second half is now underway.

“The crowd in HBF Park enjoyed every minute of that first half and why not.

Six tries and the unusual sensation of a dominant Wallabies team. Physically the pack is far superior to the Italians and in the backline, Wallabies winger Harry Potter is having a memorable Test comeback. Josh Canham has got two tries and his second row partner Jeremy Williams has carried for 50 metres.

The context for the glass-half-empty amongst you is that this Italian team are at the end of a long season and are ranked 10th in the world.

The counter-argument to that is that Italy have still beaten the Wallabies in their last two contests and we will take what we can get.

Now the eternal question - can the Wallabies avoid their customary second half slip ups??

Where does 38 first-half points sit in Wallabies history?

Let’s turn to the stats guru Russ Petty, who says it is the equal-sixth highest number of points ever scored by Australia in a first half.

The Wallabies are not relenting, and they came close to scoring a sixth try in the 39th minute.

But after some lovely passing, Ryan Lonergan just bobbled the ball on the ground.

But it didn’t matter because they had advantage and Len Ikitau was rewarded for an outstanding first half by grabbing a try soon after. The TMO reviewed a few potential forward passes in the lead-up, but there was no clear evidence, so the try stood.

And that’s half-time. What have we just witnessed? Some outstanding, clinical rugby from the Wallabies.

HALF-TIME: Wallabies 38 Italy 5

The Wallabies are absolutely smothering the Italians, and they’ve rolled downfield and scored another try.

A penalty was kicked into the corner and Bell was the man on the tail end of a rolling maul.

Italy are struggling to breathe.

31m: Wallabies 31 Italy 5

A poor clearance kick keeps the Italians under pressure and the Wallabies make them pay, scoring that fourth try through Josh Canham.

With excellent efficiency at the attacking breakdown, the impressive lock ended up getting over via a tight charge on the line.

28 mins: Wallabies 24 Italy 5

Max Jorgensen had strolled in for an easy fourth try in the 24th minute but it has been scrubbed off via TMO intervention (told you).

An earlier phase had seen the ball stripped from Harry Wilson’s arms, and that was ruled play on, but the TMO found a tiny knock on from Ryan Lonergan in the next play. Sigh.

The Italians finally got their hands on the ball and have responded with a try to captain Michele Lamaro.

The visitors went route one before spinning it wide and finding an extra man on the left edge.

Harry Potter looked like he had held the ball up, and the referee ruled as much. But replays showed Lamaro did get a touch down.

22m: Wallabies 19 Italy 5

The Wallabies are in absolute control, and now they’ve scored a third try after just 12 minutes.

This one came from a nice long break, in another good exit, and this time the pace of the Wallabies’ attack simply overwhelmed the Italians again.

A nice mix of forward charges saw Brandon Paenga-Amosa eventually get the goods, diving in from close.

12mins: Wallabies 19 Italy 0

They’re in again! A penalty against the Italians for obstruction again allowed the Wallabies into the Azzuri redzone, and this time they sought space wide, and didn’t bash and barge.

Some lovely hands from Allan Alaalatoa found a gap for Tom Wright and he hooked around the right-hand side to race in untouched.

Wallabies with all the running so far.

9 mins: Wallabies 12 Italy 0