Wilson admits Wallabies' late revival was 'too little too late' after 45-22 Twickenham rout

Australia were beaten 45-22 by England at Twickenham on Saturday, with captain Harry Wilson acknowledging the Wallabies failed to get their game going until the contest was already beyond them, leaving the tourists 1-3 in the Nations Championship with three weeks until Finals Weekend.

England led by nine at half-time but dominated possession and territory after the break, running in four second-half tries and 26 points to turn a competitive match into a commanding victory. Ben Spencer’s try inside the final five minutes put the gloss on what Wilson described as a thoroughly deserved England win.

“We struggled to get our game going. England put us under the pump. We didn’t get much ball in the first half, didn’t get too many A-zone entries and England were the better team today,” Wilson said after the match. “They fronted up physically. Our defence — we weren’t physical enough, we didn’t slow their ball down. Credit to England.”

The Wallabies did offer flashes of their potential. Max Jorgensen intercepted a pass and raced clear for a long-range try just before the break, while Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams crossed in the final quarter to give the scoreline a more respectable look. Rayn Lonergan also contributed points off the tee. But Wilson was clear-eyed about what it all amounted to.

“A lot of it might be mindset. We’ve got seven days just to take some feedback from this game and make sure we’re a lot better,” he said. “Scotland are a really good team and we’ve got to be ready for it and we’ve got to take these harsh lessons.”

Head coach Les Kiss echoed the captain’s assessment, pointing to a narrow, habit-driven first-half display as the root of the problem. “I thought the first half, we probably went into some bad habits and played a bit narrow,” Kiss said. “We needed to get the ball into the first hands, shift the point of attack, create our swing — which we got to in the second half. We just didn’t get enough of those opportunities in the first half.”

Kiss added that the second half showed what the Wallabies are capable of, but acknowledged the team must find a way to produce that rugby from the outset. “We’ve got to do better in the early parts to be able to give ourselves a chance,” he said.

Australia now turn their attention to Scotland in the next round of the Nations Championship, a fixture Wilson identified as an immediate opportunity to apply the lessons of a chastening afternoon at Twickenham.