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.
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Japan's Haruto Kida is tackled by defenders during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt Taylor/AAPImage via AP)
Dylan Riley, right, of Japan reaches out to score a try during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt Taylor/AAPImage via AP)
Japan's Harry Hockings, right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a tryduring a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt Taylor/AAPImage via AP)
Harry Potter of Australia competes with Yoshitaka Yazaki of Japan for the ball during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP)
Australia's Massimo De Lutiis celebrates after scoring a try during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt TaylorAAPImage via AP)
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.
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.”
See AP’s full rugby coverage here
Japan's Haruto Kida is tackled by defenders during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt Taylor/AAPImage via AP)
Dylan Riley, right, of Japan reaches out to score a try during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt Taylor/AAPImage via AP)
Japan's Harry Hockings, right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a tryduring a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt Taylor/AAPImage via AP)
Harry Potter of Australia competes with Yoshitaka Yazaki of Japan for the ball during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP)
Australia's Massimo De Lutiis celebrates after scoring a try during a rugby international between Japan and Australia in Townsville, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (Matt TaylorAAPImage via AP)
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adam Driver will make a long-anticipated entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play super villain Mister Sinister, and “Obsession” breakout star Inde Navarette will play Rogue in Disney 's forthcoming film reboot of “X-Men.”
Driver and Navarette were among the new cast members announced Friday night at Disney's D23 convention by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, along with Driver's “Girls” castmate Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier and Maya Boyd as Storm. The film is slated for release in May 2028.
The announcements were the biggest news to emerge from Disney Entertainment's D23 presentation that also brought updates on its forthcoming “Star Wars” titles and a song-and-dance that went sideways from the stars of “Frozen 3.”
Driver's name was often rumored and often dismissed as an “X-Men” possibility. Many thought he'd be playing the antihero Magneto. The rest of the cast appeared on stage at the Honda Center arena in Anaheim, California, while Driver appeared on a big screen.
“Kevin and I had been talking for years about my joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I think we finally found the perfect film,” Driver told the crowd of 12,000 via video. “So I’m very excited to be playing the role of Maaagneto!” he said before pausing, taking it back and saying, “even better, Nathaniel Millbury,” an alias for Mister Sinister.
Also on stage were previously announced cast members Samara Weaving, who is playing Emma Frost; Kit Connor, who is playing Scott “Cyclops” Summers; and Sadie Sink, whose role as Jean Grey was revealed by her appearance in this summer’s Marvel megahit “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
The castmates were as new to each other as they were to the fans.
“They’ve just met backstage for the very first time,” Feige said.
Navarette had also been heavily rumored to have a role after fast becoming one of Hollywood's most sought-after actors for her striking performance as a spellbound girlfriend in the indie horror hit “Obsessed” earlier this year.
The “X-Men” joining the MCU became possible with Disney's 2019 acquisition of Fox's film studio.
Director Jake Schreier is heading the reboot. and two writers from prestige TV — “Beef” creator Lee Sung Jin and “The Bear” co-showrunner Joanna Calo — are working on the script.
Ryan Gosling and director Shawn Levy headlined the “Star Wars” part of the night with a presentation on their film “Star Wars: Starfighter,” which is getting a May, 2027 release.
Gosling's appearance on stage was preceded by clips of him as a child cast member of “The Mickey Mouse Club.”
“I owe a lot to Disney," Gosling said. "Had they not looked far and wide and come to my hometown I would not be here today. Now, 30 years later, I'm back and it's changing my life again.”
Shawn Levy put on Gosling a leather jacket with his “Star Wars” character Kade Auberon's skull-and-bones symbol.
Gosling described Auberon as “a guy from the wrong side of the galaxy, whose fate is intertwined with the fastest starfighter ever built,” before showing clips from the film.
Disney announced earlier this summer at its San Diego Comic-Con presentation that Gosling will play the character Ghost Rider in the MCU, first in a “Black Panther” sequel, then in a “Ghost Rider” film that Levy will also direct. Both are set for release in 2028.
“Star Wars: Ahsoka” star Rosario Dawson also appeared to promote the Season 2 return of her Disney+ series, as did Hayden Christensen, who will return as a force-ghost version of her mentor Anakin Skywalker.
Marvel veterans also took the D23 stage as past and future “Avengers” stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and Hayley Atwell introduced a new trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday,” to be released Dec. 18.
The footage shows Downey, now playing Dr. Doom having shed his Iron Man suit, beating back Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and his hammer, and shows Evans, who is returning as Captain America, holding a baby. And it shows Ian McKellan as a long-haired, haggard, struggling version of Magneto.
Hugh Jackman appeared on the big screen to tell Feige he's willing to appear in “Doomsday” as Wolverine. Whether he'll be in the movie has led to heated fan speculation. His answer wasn't definitive, but most bets are now switching to yes.
Fans also got a glimpse of the soon-to-drop Disney+ series “Visionquest.” Paul Bettany, who returns to his Marvel role as Vision, and James Spader, who returns to playing Ultron, showed a trailer with oddly human and ordinary versions of their cybernetic characters. Bettany said it’s been a pleasure to play multiple versions of Vision, who has “rather inconveniently died several times.” But, he said, “I'm told in the Marvel Universe that no one is ever really dead.”
Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel sang an eerie new arrangement of “Frozen Heart” from their first film playing princess sisters Elsa and Anna as they introduced the forthcoming “Frozen 3.”
Or they tried to, anyway. The segment was plagued with malfunctioning audio, video, and a set of doors that failed to open.
They ad-libbed their way through it like pros.
“Should we go back and try it again?” Menzel asked at the song's end.
Bell described for the crowd everything that was supposed to happen and said, “You guys were gonna freak out.”
They found their way back to the script.
“Doesn't it kind of feel like the world of Frozen is a bit different?” Bell said. Menzel added, “Maybe a little bit more mysterious?”
“Yes, OK, we're back on track,” Bell said, to big laughs.
Their castmate Josh Gad followed with a rendition of “Oooh, Samantha,” a love song his snowman character Olaf will sing in “Frozen 3.”
The night's other big musical set pieces included songs and dance from the cast of “The Greatest Showman,” the stage musical adaptation of the 2017 Jackman film that is premiering on London's West End next year.
Mohamed Obsidye, left, of Columbus, Ohio, dressed as his own superhero character "Afro-Pool," leads a dance outside the entrance to D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Marvel Universe cosplayers take part in a photo op outside the entrance to D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
FILE - Adam Driver poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Paper Tiger' at the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
Daniel Delgado, 6, of Victorville, Calif., joins a photo op for cosplayers dressed as "Spider-Man" during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
