To be fair, few Australians would know the second verse of Advance Australia Fair.

But the Wallabies were caught by surprise when the brass band performing the anthems in Florence belted out a rare two-verse version of the national song.

As the players' faces appeared on the electronic scoreboard, it was obvious to all they had no idea what the words were.

Asked if his side had been caught on the hop, captain Rocky Elsom conceded: "A little bit.

"Had we known that it was going to be played we probably would have been able to belt it out."

Some of them would anyway, with centre Berrick Barnes proving he could do it by reciting the entire second verse after the game to Australian journalists and insisting halfback Luke Burgess was also singing before the game.

Hosting the Wallabies for the first time, the Renaissance city turned on a colourful afternoon at the home ground of Serie A soccer side ACF Fiorentina, the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

There was a party atmosphere around the 1930s stadium, with street bands and mohawks in the national colours of green, red and white.

Inside, the 32,173 fans created plenty of atmosphere with the signature European whistles instead of boos and chants of "Italia".

The rain stopped for the first time in two days and the Wallabies threw the ball wide from play one.

"It was nice to wear moulded boots again," said centre Berrick Barnes, who had endured last Tuesday night's cyclonic weather in Limerick.

"That's a start, and nice to see some sunshine, a few other things that brighten your world up a little bit.

"They're a good crowd here, the Italians, fantastic, just a lot of respect even going to the ground.

"They get behind their team, which is great, and you've got to love the Latino spirit."

Referee Christophe Berdos and his TMO George Warren also added some novelty value, taking an eternity to come up with several decisions as their communication equipment struggled.

Italy were eventually awarded a 72nd minute try to Robert Barbieri after what seemed a thousand replays and Frenchman Berdos then jogging over to a touch judge just to make sure.

There were few complaints about a Test in Florence, though, its shuttered, siena buildings, cobbled laneways and plentiful gelato no doubt ensuring the city known as Firenze will be a popular stop for players.

And the Wallabies got their own Renaissance after consecutive losses.

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