A week after hailing a new golden era for the Wallabies, Australian newspapers were wondering how that same side would rebound from a record 53-8 loss to South Africa on Saturday at Ellis Park.
The eight-try-to-one romp was the biggest Test defeat in Wallaby history and came just a week after an historic win in Durban over the Springboks.
Although the Wallabies are still in contention for the Tri-Nations title and have only lost two Tests out of eight under new coach Robbie Deans, the performance raised fresh concerns about their progress.
Under the headline ”Boks make fools of Aussies,” the Australian newspaper said the Wallabies threw in the towel on Saturday.
”The most disappointing aspect of the Wallabies’ performance was that when the game got away from them, they appeared to give up, succumbing to the effects of high altitude,” the national newspaper said.
”In previous games, one of the hallmarks of the Wallabies’ play was their scrambling defence, but this time it was non-existent.
”Towards the end of the game the Australians could not even make their first-up tackles and conceded some of the softest tries they have ever let in.”
The Sydney Morning Herald called it ”a great opportunity that was wasted” and said the ”Wallabies lose their shirts and their pride”, referring to the theft of team clothing from the hotel before the game.
”After the false hope of Durban seven days earlier, the Wallabies came back to earth in Johannesburg when they lost all semblance of forward drive and endeavour to suffer the ignominy of this country’s biggest Test loss.
”There remains a serious mental issue with this team, particularly their inability to produce two good performances in a row.
”For the umpteenth time in their recent history, the Wallabies showed they are the masters of cruising when they shouldn’t.”
The newspaper said that reviving the team’s fortunes before the September 13 Tri-Nations decider against New Zealand would be one of the biggest challenges of Deans’ coaching career.
The Daily Telegraph added: ”It was a dark afternoon for the Wallabies’ golden new era but a composed Deans refused to let doom and gloom set in, saying if his men could hoist the Tri-Nations trophy on Brisbane on September 13 then the season would go down as a success.” — Sapa-AFP