RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AP) — Massimo De Lutiis went on as a second-half replacement to become the 1,000th player capped for the Wallabies, and marked the milestone with a try as Australia beat Japan 56-17 on Saturday to sweep the two-test rugby series.
The 22-year-old De Lutiis went on in the 50th minute to replace veteran prop Taniela Tupou, who barged over for two first-half tries, and was on the shoulder of Angus Bell a minute later as his fellow frontrower scored to give Australia a 26-17 lead.
De Lutiis scored himself in the 58th, backing up in support at the perfect time after an Australian attacking raid that started with flyhalf Carter Gordon breaking the defensive line and running 30 meters toward the right corner flag.
That try and a conversion from scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan, his fifth, gave Australia an 18-point cushion with 20 minutes remaining after a tightly-contested first half where Japan's surprising line speed in defense and enterprising, relentless attack unsettled the Wallabies.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said the players were challenged by new coach Les Kiss at halftime after having to come back from a try down in the opening 40 minutes, and they responded with “a lot more spark” in the second half.
“A team like Japan, if you’re not up for it, they’re really going to make you pay,” Wilson said. De Lutiis' injection into the game added some extra energy.
“It’s really special — 1000 Wallabies, incredible,” Wilson said. “Someone like Massimo, he’s a proud Australian. Really special moment.”
Three late tries helped the Wallabies turn a 21-17 halftime lead into a 39-point victory, giving the Australians a three-match winning streak for the first time since 2024.
The Wallabies beat Italy last month in the Nations Championship in Joe Schmidt’s last match as head coach and then had a 35-32 win over Japan in Osaka last weekend in Kiss's first as head coach .
Tight first half
Japan captain Warner Dearns said his lineup did everything possible to match it with the bigger Australian pack in the first half.
“Really hard battle,” he said. “We knew that the Wallabies were going to come out hard. We put a real emphasis on trying to move them around and play fast rugby. We did it well in the first half.”
Halves Naoto Saito and Ryunosuke Ito supplied quick ball and regularly exposed holes in Australia's defense in the first 35 minutes.
The Australians twice took an early lead via tries from Josh Nasser and Tupou but Japan rallied both times. Giant lock Harry Hockings, who played 28 games for the Queensland Reds, charged down a poor attempted exit from Lonergan at the base of a ruck and dived on the ball in-goal, and Saito took a quick penalty tap and darted over from close range, catching the defense unaware.
Japan took the lead in the 33rd via Australian-born Dylan Riley, who beat two tackles and reached over for a try, but the Australians hit back just before the break, again using the platform of a lineout and moving the ball up to the tryline where Tupou crashed over.
In the end, six of Australia's eight tries were scored by frontrow forwards.
Summing up his day, De Lutiis said: “Like, even 1,000 is awesome, but just to be a Wallaby in general is just crazy to me — it’s a dream come true.”
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