Joe Schmidt Farewell: Wallabies Stun Italy 57-10 in Perth

There is no better way to send off a coach than with a nine-try demolition job, and that is exactly what the Wallabies delivered for Joe Schmidt on Saturday in Perth. The Joe Schmidt farewell was everything Australian rugby needed it to be — emphatic, clinical and, at times, genuinely breathtaking.

Australia dismantled Italy 57-10 at HBF Park, a 47-point winning margin that fundamentally changes the Wallabies' standing in this Nations Championship. After two defeats to open the tournament and six consecutive losses coming in, this was the kind of result that quietens critics and restores belief in a squad that had started to look dangerously fragile.

The context around that fragility matters. Back-to-back defeats against Ireland and France — the latter a sobering 42-26 loss on 11 July — had left Australia's ambitions hanging by a thread. As a former professional No. 8, I know what a run of six straight losses does to a playing group. It eats at confidence, disrupts combinations and forces a coach to make calls he would rather not have to make. Schmidt's men had answers for all of that on Saturday. They were ruthless at the breakdown, relentless in their ball movement, and they crossed the line repeatedly against a side that simply had no answer for the pace Australia brought across eighty minutes.

Italy arrived at HBF Park without head coach Gonzalo Quesada, who was still serving the first match of his two-Test ban before a successful appeal reduced the punishment to one game. His absence showed in the Azzurri's structure. This was the same Italian side that had conceded 47 to New Zealand on 11 July, and they were carved open again here. Their only points were a reminder of the ability in that squad rather than any evidence of genuine competitiveness on the day.

For Australia, this Joe Schmidt farewell doubles as a statement of intent to the rest of the Nations Championship field. England await on 8 November in a fixture that now carries real weight — Les Kiss inherits a group with momentum in its legs and a scoreline that will travel.

Italy's problems, meanwhile, extend beyond Saturday. They face South Africa on 7 November in what promises to be a defining clash for the Azzurri's lower-table ambitions. Another performance at this level will give Rassie Erasmus very little to lose sleep over in his preparation. Italy need answers fast, and right now they do not look like they have them.

What lingers from Perth, though, is not Italy's limitations but Australia's authority. The Joe Schmidt farewell produced the Wallabies' most emphatic Nations Championship performance of 2026, and that is the story that will shape this tournament going forward. Schmidt's tenure ends with a thunderclap. The Nations Championship has been put on notice.