Despite a face-saving second-half effort, the prevailing assessment of the Australian's 54-34 defeat to the All Blacks in Sydney from media across the globe has been severe.
What can the Wallabies possibly do to halt their abysmal run against the men in black?
According to the below, not a whole lot.
Iain Payten, The Daily Telegraph
"For as much spirit was shown in the last half-hour, the Wallabies defence oscillated between atrocious and missing in the first 50 minutes and any hope of victory was gone well before the belated comeback.
"The Wallabies made 95 tackles but missed a whopping 48 in the game and at times the All Blacks appeared to be able to score at will.
"Ryan Crotty and Rieko Ioane scored twice, feasting off Australian mistakes and defensive errors highlighting the disturbing lack of confidence in the Wallabies ranks this year."
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Tom Decent, Sydney Morning Herald
"When Australia trailed 40-6 at the break, there was little new skipper Michael Hooper could have said to his distraught troops in what has to be one of the most brutal introductions to full-time Wallabies captaincy.
"For context, the Wallabies missed a staggering 40 per cent (37 from 94) of all tackles in the first half and there will be immense pressure on defence coach Nathan Grey given what the Waratahs dished up this year too.
"Cheika may have boasted the Wallabies were fit and raring to go but they sure as anything didn't do enough work on their defensive structures in an abysmal effort."
Bret Harris, The Guardian UK
"There was hope it would be the start of something big, the resuscitation of Australian rugby no less – a Wallabies-led recovery which would bring the game in this country back from a near death experience. But it turned out to be a sad, forlorn longing, crushed by the weight of 23 men in black.
"Some claimed there were cracks in the All Blacks' armour. Sex scandals, bugging dramas and even a spelling crisis, but the only cracks were in the Wallabies' defence.
"Instead of lifting spirits, the Wallabies' defeat just created more despair to go with the gloom of Australia’s 0-26 win-loss record against Kiwi opposition in Super Rugby and the culling of the Western Force."
Ben Coles, Daily Telegraph UK
"The world champions extinguished any chance of an upset with three tries in seven first-half minutes and sliced through the home defence almost at will in the opening 50 to start their title defence with a bonus-point win.
Liam Squire, Sonny Bill Williams, Damian McKenzie and Ben Smith also scored tries as the All Blacks brushed off the disappointment of the drawn British & Irish Lions series and a string of off-field distractions."
James Mathey, news.com.au
"It doesn’t get much worse than this.
"Whatever optimism the Wallabies had that this was the year they’d end the All Blacks' 15-year run of Bledisloe Cup dominance was ruthlessly belted out of them in Sydney. Australian rugby fans are used to seeing their side come off second best in trans-Tasman clashes but this was next level.
"They spent the entire time defending, and they did it abysmally. Thirty-seven missed tackles in the first half alone — to go with 48 missed tackles all up — illustrates just how badly they were schooled.
"For all the fight the Aussies showed in the second half it wasn’t enough to paper over the giant cracks exposed in a nightmarish first half."
