London: Wallabies coach Les Kiss has promised a thorough review of the side’s defence after a third straight defeat in which the team has shipped over 40 points and let in six or more tries.
The Australian side were blown off the park by England in a record defeat, conceding seven tries and an unprecedented 45 points.
The thrashing came after the Wallabies conceded a total of 93 points in two Tests against the All Blacks last month, in which they were beaten 50-19 and 43-21 .
It’s the first time the Wallabies have conceded more than 40 points in three consecutive Tests.
And while it was diluted by the fact they beat the Springboks – and were reduced to 11 men at one point – the Wallabies also gave up 38 points in their 42-38 win in Perth .
There was hope the Wallabies’ defence would be much improved at Twickenham from the efforts against a white-hot New Zealand side, and players even said after the second Bledisloe Cup defeat that they wouldn’t come up against an attack as good as the All Blacks in November.
Strictly speaking, that is probably true, but the Wallabies’ defence was just as poor at times in London, pointing to a problem that is only getting worse, not better.
In another performance that puts pressure on Kiss and new defence coach Scott McLeod after their honeymoon start of five games undefeated, the Wallabies missed 28 tackles and were caught short for numbers on the edges for several tries.
This England side, it must be noted, went into the game having only won three of eight Tests this year and with coach Steve Borthwick under pressure to keep his job.
Asked if the Wallabies defence was a big concern given the recent record, Kiss said: “It is certainly something that we don’t accept, that’s for sure. We know there’s some work to do.”
“We are working through some habits that have existed, and are just trying to shift the dial a bit to be a little bit more pressure-based in our defence,” Kiss added. “It’s just not coming together for us.
“We’ll continue to work. The boys will be ... be hard on themselves, which is necessary. And the coaches will also be harder on our ourselves as well to make sure we get the solution together. We’ll stay connected, we’ll work hard, and the bottom line is we have to be better. We just have to be better, without a doubt.”
The Wallabies must now pick themselves up and try and get ready for a tough Scotland side, who have a ballplaying maestro in Finn Russell at No.10. He and Aussie-raised skipper Sione Tuipulotu have the capacity to break open the Wallabies defence, as they did at Murrayfield in 2024.
The Wallabies are expecting to have Carter Gordon and Tom Hooper available for selection.
Kiss and Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said there will have to be a strong response from the Australian side.
“We just can’t sit back on our heels and cop that and not have a response somewhere,” Kiss said.
“You know, we train well, but got to be better than training. I’d rather train terrible and put the 80 minutes on. That’s more important.
“We’ve got to find a solution to get that [defence] right. You know, I can’t fault the boys in their effort and their ambition to make sure they work hard to get the right little things right that we want in our game. Uh, but we’ve got to transfer it. Is a week long enough? It has to be.”
Wilson said the Wallabies were gutted in the Twickenham sheds and it was up to them to fight back next week.
“We want a big response,” he said. “It wasn’t good enough tonight and want to see us out there, I want us to fire some shots, and be a lot more physical in defence, put Scotland under pressure.
“We need to do that, and it’s on us to do it.”
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