Wallabies dig deep to win

Australia were the latest side to suffer some uncomfortable moments at the World Cup before they finally found the way to beat Italy 32-6.

The Wallabies, tipped in some quarters to be serious challengers for the Webb Ellis Trophy following their Tri-Nations success, were held to 6-6 at the break as they struggled to cope with a clever Italian game plan.

The Azzurri pack was simply immense, while in Fabio Semenzato Nick Mallett appears to have finally unearthed a quality scrum-half. If only they had a decent No.10, then they might have been celebrating a shock win.

However with David Pocock strengthening his claim as the world's top openside, Quade Cooper probing throughout and Will Genia producing his typical livewire display, Australia were able to sidestep the potential banana skin in the last 30 minutes of the match.

Ben Alexander, Adam Ashley-Cooper, James O'Connor and Digby Ioane all scored tries, while Cooper added two penalties. O'Connor went some way to redeeming himself after breaching team protocol by finishing with 11 points in total.

Mirco Bergamasco scored Italy's only points with two penalties in the first half.

Both Cooper and Bergamasco were guilty of missing early shots at goal before the Wallabies playmaker found his range on 16 minutes.

On the occasions Australia were able to get the ball away from the break down they were able to play some decent flowing rugby - with Cooper's running simply class.

Burrow

However the Wallabies were unable to take advantage of such moments, with a second Cooper penalty all they had to show for their efforts.

The Azzurri refused to panic, though, and penalties from Bergamasco in the final five minutes of the half seeing them enter the break on level terms.

But, with the half-time words of Robbie Deans still ringing in their ears, the Wallabies were able to finally break the Italian resistance.

A stolen lineout by Dan Vickerman and a powerful break from Digby Ioane set the initial platform for Ben Alexander to eventually burrow his way over.

A second try wasn't long in coming with Ashley-Cooper, who had to endure a rough first 40 under the constant bombardment from Semenzato, scything through to score.

O'Connor added the extras and then converted his own try after he powered through from 10m out.

Ioane scored the pick of the tries when he took the ball from Cooper at pace, crashed through the Italy defence before showing his pace to score. O'Connor converted.

Rather than just fold, the Italians regrouped and finished with a flourish - with Sergio Parisse showing some great skills.

The Azzurri skipper almost got the try he and his side deserved but after the pack had driven the Australians back over their own line from a 5m scrum, the ball bobbled lose.