{"id":924713,"date":"2026-08-04T10:17:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/bad-memories-wallabies-on-alert-for-italy-clash\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T10:17:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:17:59","slug":"bad-memories-wallabies-on-alert-for-italy-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/bad-memories-wallabies-on-alert-for-italy-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad memories: Wallabies on alert for Italy clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ArticleContent\">\n<p>Wallabies winger Harry Potter has no doubts world No.10 Italy are now a force to be reckoned with after being left with plenty of \u201cbad memories\u201d from facing them last year.<\/p>\n<p>It took Italy 19 attempts to finally beat the Wallabies &#8211; a famous 28-27 win in 2022 &#8211; and followed it up with a 26-19 upset last year in Udine.<\/p>\n<p>Losing twice in a row to Italy would have been unthinkable several years ago.<\/p>\n<p><span>Know the news with the 7NEWS app: <a href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/app?utm_source=7NEWS&#038;utm_medium=contextual-link-app&#038;utm_campaign=7news-app\" target=\"_blank\">Download today <svg viewBox=\"0 0 20 14\" width=\"20\" height=\"14\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Arrow\"><title>Arrow<\/title><path d=\"M1 7H19M19 7L13 1M19 7L13 13\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" fill=\"none\" \/><\/svg><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But they are no longer a rugby minnow, as evidenced by victories over England and Scotland in the Six Nations Championship this year.<\/p>\n<p>Potter says the Wallabies, who have slid to No.8 in the rankings following nine losses from their past 10 Test matches, are now well aware of the danger Italy pose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat midfield is dangerous. Their outside backs are talented and fast,\u201d Potter said ahead of Saturday night\u2019s Nations Championship clash in Perth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got some bad memories of Udine last year, so I think even more so than last year, we understand the threat that\u2019s coming this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked whether it was a surprise just how good Italy were last year, Potter replied: \u201cI suppose a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wallabies players have made it their mission to send the duo off on a winning note.<\/p>\n<p>Schmidt has again backed in Declan Meredith as his starting flyhalf, with the Wallabies attempting to snap a six-Test losing run.<\/p>\n<p>Ben Donaldson, who missed last week\u2019s 42-26 loss to France due to a calf injury, will provide cover off the bench.<\/p>\n<p>Hometown hero Carlo Tizzano has been handed a start in the No.7 jersey, with last week\u2019s two-try hero Fraser McReight to provide support off the bench after he pulled up sore from the France clash.<\/p>\n<p>Australia led France 21-12 at halftime before conceding the next 30 points.<\/p>\n<p>A week earlier, the Wallabies coughed up a 12-point lead against Ireland on the way to a heartbreaking 33-31 loss, with Donaldson missing a penalty after the final siren.<\/p>\n<p>The Wallabies concede their second-half performances haven\u2019t been good enough of late and are determined to go the full 80 minutes against Italy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> Justin Chadwick <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/rugby-union\/bad-memories-wallabies-on-alert-for-italy-clash-c-22594317\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wallabies winger Harry Potter has no doubts world No.10 Italy are now a force to be reckoned with after being left with plenty of \u201cbad memories\u201d from facing them last year. It took Italy 19 attempts to finally beat the Wallabies &#8211; a famous 28-27 win in 2022 &#8211; and followed it up with a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":924714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31845,96063],"tags":[13234,96061],"class_list":["post-924713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-memories","category-wallabies","tag-memories","tag-wallabies"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}