{"id":33373,"date":"2026-07-18T13:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T13:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/33373\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T13:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T13:17:09","slug":"lock-it-in-as-hat-trick-helps-wallabies-wallop-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/33373\/","title":{"rendered":"Lock it in as hat-trick helps Wallabies wallop Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Canham has become the first Wallabies lock to score a Test hat-trick as Australia farewelled coach Joe Schmidt in style with a 57-10 demolition of Italy in Perth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The world No.8 Wallabies entered Saturday night’s Nations Championship clash having lost nine of their past 10 Test matches, including six on the trot.<\/p>\n

But from the very outset Australia’s determination was clear to see, with the home side running in six tries to one in a dominant first half to open up a match-winning 38-5 lead by the break in front of 19,268 fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

Josh Canham became the first lock in Wallabies history to score a Test hat-trick. (Richard Wainwright\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Canham cashed in with three tries for the match, while prop Angus Bell, hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa, centre Len Ikitau, fullback Tom Wright, reserve hooker Billy Pollard and Ben Donaldson also scored in Saturday night’s romp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Home-town hero Carlo Tizzano was a menace at the breakdown, while recalled winger Harry Potter produced a series of dazzling runs but was unable to find his supporting teammates with an offload.<\/p>\n

The champagne rugby marked the perfect end to Schmidt’s tenure, and ensured he walked off into the sunset with a winning clip of 38.7 per cent (12 wins, 19 losses).<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Schmidt marked his final match in charge of the Wallabies with a hammering of Italy. (Richard Wainwright\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

It means he avoids owning the worst winning percentage of a Wallabies coach in the professional era, with that inglorious record still held by Dave Rennie (38.2 per cent).<\/p>\n

It was Australia’s highest score in his three-year tenure and their largest on home soil since 2014.<\/p>\n

“Just delighted to finish well,” Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

“I’m happy, but I’m never satisfied.There’s always going to be regrets, but I am delighted that, for the sixth time in a row, we’ve had a full house (in Australian games).<\/p>\n

“The people are coming back, we have to confirm (to them) it’s worth it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a fiery end to the game, Italy prop Marco Riccioni was red-carded in the 66th minute for his involvement in a sideline melee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Riccioni had already been subbed out of the game when he ran in to join brawling players right near the Italian bench.<\/p>\n

The impressive win helped erase the pain of last week’s 42-26 loss to France, when Australia conceded 30 consecutive points in a woeful second half.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Wallabies exploded with three tries inside the opening 19 minutes against Italy, with Wright’s turbo-speed effort through a gap the most memorable moment of the early onslaught.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Wallabies spoke during the week of the importance of coming out from the halftime break breathing fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, it was Italy who scored just 42 seconds after the restart courtesy of Australian-born winger Monty Ioane.<\/p>\n

Normal order was restored in the 52nd minute when Canham completed his hat-trick with a pick-and-go, and reserve playmaker Donaldson added the icing on the cake with a try on the final siren.<\/p>\n

\"Captain<\/p>\n

Captain Harry Wilson (centre) was a delighted man as the Wallabies broke a lengthy losing streak. (Richard Wainwright\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“We were clinical, we had a lot of positive moments in a row and our discipline’s improved,” captain Harry Wilson said.<\/p>\n

“(After Italy scored to begin the second half) we just said, ‘This isn’t happening again’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’ve had two weeks of pain, the boys said, ‘that’s enough’ and went out and dominated after that.”<\/p>\n

\"Italy<\/p>\n

The Italian players leave the ground after comprehensive loss to the Wallabies. (Richard Wainwright\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Italy moved to 0-3 in the tournament, captain Michele Lamaro filthy with his side’s effort.<\/p>\n

“Gutted. Very disappointed with the result and performance we put in and nothing more, honestly,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You have to face yourself, look in the mirror and really think about your stuff.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Canham has become the first Wallabies lock to score a Test hat-trick as Australia farewelled coach Joe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[859,22438,5,22388,22451,20620,22703,3386],"class_list":["post-33373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-australia","tag-ben-donaldson","tag-italy","tag-joe-schmidt","tag-josh-canham","tag-nations-championship","tag-stan-sport-rugby","tag-wallabies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}