Australia vs. Italy: Score, Reaction for 2017 Summer Internationals

Sefanaia Naivalu and Israel Folau scored braces as Australia scored six tries in a thrilling win on Saturday, beating a spirited Italy side 40-27 at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Naivalu grabbed the first try of the match before Israel Folau went over twice, while Michele Campagnaro hit back late on in the first half as Italy went in 21-13 down.

Edoardo Padovani and Tommaso Benvenuti went over after Naivalu hit back early in the second half, and the two teams were separated by just one point with three minutes remaining, but Reece Hodge and Bernard Foley crashed home two late tries to maintain the Wallabies' perfect record over Italy.

Tommaso Allan gave Italy an early lead with a penalty after Australia knocked on just five metres in front of their own line.

The Wallabies were fortunate not to be even further behind soon after, when a neat move by the Azzurri saw Giovanbattista Venditti offload to Dean Budd on the right for him to go over, but the try was disallowed on the finest of margins as the latter dragged over the touchline, per TEN Sport:

Australia did not create any opportunities of note until almost a quarter of an hour in, but they capitalised fully as Naivalu sprinted down the left flank and over following a quick tap from a free-kick.

Just five minutes later, the hosts had another try when Folau finished off a lovely passing move in the corner.

Allan pulled back another three points with a penalty, but Folau had his second try after Michael Hooper broke through when Australia stole possession from the visitors, and Karmichael Hunt picked out the winger with an excellent pass wide.

Sports Australia's Adam McBride noted Folau's impressive achievement:

The try showcased Italy's defensive struggles, and it was of little surprise they missed a total of 16 tackles in the first half alone. They earned a lifeline at the end of the half when Venditti broke the middle before offloading to Campagnaro. Rugby writer Simon Thomas was impressed:

Australia hit back early in the second half, though, when they took the ball from a scrum close to the Italian line and quickly moved it left, where Naivalu was waiting to go over.

TEN Sport highlighted Foley's sublime offload in the build-up:

The hosts looked to have the contest under control as a result, but they allowed Italy back into the contest when Dane Haylett-Petty dropped a cross-field kick straight into Padovani's hands in the corner.

Buoyed by the score, Italy—who had controlled much of the possession in the second half—continued to fight their way back into the contest when Benvenuti intercepted Rory Arnold's sloppy pass before jinking through to bring the score to 28-27.

However, with just three minutes remaining, Foley forced his way way over after racing through a gap in the Italian line four metres out.

Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Australia dealt a final blow to the Azzurri when Hodge was able to race down the left from his own 22 and touch down.

Despite their success going forward, the performance will be a concern for Australia, who slipped to a shock defeat to Scotland in their previous match.

As for Italy, they will be greatly encouraged having driven the Wallabies so closely.