There were a few nervous moments late in the first half but Simon Cron was otherwise happy with the way his team bounced back last night.
The 42-19 scoreline was perhaps a touch flattering for the Australians, who clicked into cruise control far too early in the first half and were made to pay by a prickly Italian outfit.
The second half was a true indication of this team's talent, as they piled on four tries to one and looked every bit the team that fell one point short of an upset against England.
"I thought we played a lot better field position in the second half," Cron said.
"Score wise, it blew out a little bit against a good side - they're a Six Nations team - but we were still under par in terms of our execution.
"A lot of our guys were trying to offload through high density contact and just knocking it on, so we made that pretty clear at half time."
Izaia Perese was the star of the show.
The outside centre scored three tries which showcased his full skill set.
He beat defenders with sheer acceleration and pace but additionally, showed he could go over the top of players and defend with the same amount of intent.
"Izzy is an awesome athlete and a great human being," Cron said.
"He's a lovely kid and has a lot of rugby ahead of him.
"We had a couple of key work ons for him from the English game and I thought he did those today.
"But like I've said to all these boys, it's week on week.
"It doesn't come free but I back him 100 percent."
The secondary star was Australia's set piece.
The scrum tore the Italians to shreds and the lineout wreaked havoc on opposition ball.
"The scrum was brilliant today again, the defensive lineout was really good - we had some issues with the attacking lineout which was a bit frustrating," Cron said.
"But we're working on that as a coaching staff and I think they've done a great job at set piece."
Attention now shifts to the fifth place playoff final, where the winner of this morning's clash between Scotland and Wales awaits.
