I can imagine Joe Schmidt asking his fair share of these questions, too, with his immediate response post-match echoing the thoughts of so many Australia<\/a> fans who had set the alarm on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pretty gutted, to be honest,\u201d he told Stan Sport in Australia. \u201cWe just looked a bit flat. I said progress isn\u2019t linear, but that was a flat performance. That\u2019s a dip we can\u2019t afford to have and we\u2019ve got two massive games coming up now. We\u2019re going to have to recuperate as best we can and throw everything into the Irish game now.\u201d<\/p>\n A few weeks back, I suggested the Wallabies were definitely a better team than the one which started the first Test of the year against Fiji, but I\u2019m not sure I can hold that argument now. There\u2019s a real \u2018square one\u2019 feel about them again, and despite the wins over the Lions<\/a> and the Springboks only happening in August, they suddenly feel a lifetime ago.<\/p>\n A capitulation of their own doing<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s a decent argument that Australia looked better against Italy than the week before against England, because there was no real decline at Twickenham, just a failure to get going in the first place. The England<\/a> loss was a performance that fuelled thoughts of fatigue\/too many Tests, a notion only strengthened by the loss to Italy.<\/p>\n The performance in Udine was certainly an in-game decline. After playing with nice shape and width in attack, the Wallabies looked well on top at half-time, having scored two tries-to-none. The Wallabies had nearly two-thirds of possession, more than half the territory share, and forced the Azzurri to make twice as many tackles.<\/p>\n Quite why that all stopped in the second half remains a mystery. The attacking width was abandoned for a narrow, largely one-out carry and pick-and-drive method that when combined with an attacking clean-out that lacked presence and urgency, literally played into the hands of the Italian breakdown \u2013 which grew in confidence and deadliness with every pilfer and ruck penalty they won.<\/p>\n The silver lining, the social media wags argued, was that at least all five tries in the match were scored by Australians: Louis Lynagh<\/a> and Monte Ioane grabbing the Italians\u2019 scores.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Italians also found their way into the contest courtesy of way too many Australian mistakes and infringements \u2013 kicks out on the full, balls lost into contact, maul and breakdown infringements that enabled the Azzurri to draw level and then pull away with two converted tries in three minutes on the hour.<\/p>\n It surely can\u2019t have been a half-time coaching message but equally, why would the players on the field in the heat of the battle just decide to ignore what they were doing 20 minutes earlier? It makes no sense either way.<\/p>\n \u201cSecond half, I just feel like we overplayed,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cWe were static and we really need to go back and just try to get a little bit more energy about us, particularly around that breakdown. We should not be giving up those breakdown penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n The silver lining, the social media wags argued, was that at least all five tries in the match were scored by Australians: Louis Lynagh \u2013 son-of-Michael, brother-of-Tom \u2013 and former Melbourne Rebels<\/a> flyer Monte Ioane grabbing the Italians\u2019 scores.<\/p>\n Regardless, this was a capitulation from the Wallabies and largely of their own making. Which is not to take anything away from Italy, who simply recognised that they only had to defend Australia\u2019s narrow attack and wait for the inevitable gift turnover or penalty.<\/p>\n Mistakes are becoming fatal. Adjustment is needed. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>How many times does something need to happen before it\u2019s definitely a trend?<\/p>\n At some point between coming back from South Africa<\/a> and resuming The Rugby Championship<\/a> on home soil, a switch was flicked that meant the Wallabies started conceding turnovers and penalties, and seven games later, it\u2019s the most definite of worrying trends.<\/p>\n Through the Lions Series and the South African tour, the Wallabies averaged just 12 turnovers and seven penalties conceded per game, with the 11 penalties in the third Lions Test in Sydney \u2013 quite remarkably, now \u2013 the only game among those five to reach double-digit penalties.<\/p>\n Since then, it\u2019s been a very different story. The Wallabies are now out to more than 15 turnovers conceded every game, and more than a dozen penalties \u2013 hence why the Italians\u2019 patience was so well rewarded on Saturday.<\/p>\n With two Six Nations<\/a> heavyweights next up, inviting teams back into games or letting them get away because of things you keep doing is a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Three extra turnovers and five extra penalties every game will either invite teams back into games, make it impossible to catch them, or \u2013 as on the weekend \u2013 both.<\/p>\n In Udine, it was three first-half penalties in the Australian half that allowed the Azzurri to draw back to within three points at half-time. From there they simply had to overcome a try from a probable knock-on, stay patient, and wait for the rewards to arrive around the hour mark.<\/p>\n The Wallabies have to address this trend and adjust. Immediately. With two of the Six Nations heavyweights next up, inviting teams back into games or letting them get away because of things you keep doing is a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n Last fortnight harder than it needed to be<\/strong><\/p>\n Argentina\u2019s big win over Wales<\/a> on Sunday, following Australia\u2019s loss to Italy, allowed Los Pumas<\/a> to open the gap on the Wallabies to nearly one full ranking point<\/a>, meaning Australia now almost certainly need to beat one of Ireland<\/a> or France<\/a> over the next two weekends if they want to get into the top six before next month\u2019s draw for RWC2027.<\/p>\n The size of the Argentine win in Cardiff actually meant that a narrow Australian victory may well have kept the Wallabies in seventh place anyway, and still needing to win one of their final two Tests of the year.<\/p>\n But what has made the equation harder now is that the Wallabies have had a significant confidence dent over the last six weeks, while Argentina<\/a> head to Murrayfield this week with momentum and ready to take on the Scots.<\/p>\n Certainly, a Scotland<\/a> win on the back their performance against New Zealand<\/a> and the confidence that surely comes with that, can\u2019t be ruled out. Indeed, Australian fans are counting on it. But the best thing the Wallabies can do is find a way to beat Ireland on Saturday.<\/p>\n Look, stranger things have happened. The Wallabies and Ireland have always matched up well regardless of world rankings at the time, and the four most recent meetings in Dublin \u2013 in 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2024 \u2013 were all decided by just three points in Ireland\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n Further, Ireland lost control of the game against the All Blacks<\/a> in Chicago in an awful hurry, and then took the first half to work out how to get the upper hand against Japan<\/a> last weekend.<\/p>\n Labelling them \u2018vulnerable\u2019 feels somewhat accurate, even if still with a touch of hope. But simply put, the Wallabies just have to find a way.<\/p>\n![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Australia_JoeSchmidt_lookson_vItaly_Nov25_resized_GettyImages-2245718544.jpg.webp\")
Schmidt\u2019s side have lost five of their last six Tests, and eight of 13 overall this year so far (Photo Timothy Rogers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Monty](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Italy_MontyIoane_celtryvAustralia_Nov25_resized_GettyImages-2245158049.jpg.webp\")
Monty Ioane\u2019s try proved the winning score after a converted try from Louis Lynagh (second left) brought Italy level (Photo Stefano Rellandini\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Angus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Australia_AngusBell_tryvItaly_Nov25_resized_GettyImages-2245146757.jpg\")
Angus Bell\u2019s converted try put Australia in command at 12-6 up, but a host of errors allowed Italy back into the game (Photo Stefano Rellandini\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Australia_HarryWilson_carrytackled_vItaly_Nov25_resized_GettyImages-2245149511.jpg.webp\")
Australia remain trapped between a side capable of stunning highs but also major lows (Photo Stefano Rellandini\/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n