Wilson vows Wallabies will rediscover best after three straight heavy defeats

Australia captain Harry Wilson refused to abandon faith in his squad after the Wallabies were beaten 45-22 by England in the Nations Championship at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham — their third consecutive heavy defeat following a Bledisloe Cup series sweep by New Zealand.

England were largely in control from the outset, with Ollie Chessum crossing early and the hosts leading 19-3 at the break despite a yellow card to Angus Bell complicating matters. Max Jorgensen provided a moment of hope just before half-time, intercepting a pass and racing clear to reduce the deficit to nine points — echoing the heroics he produced at the same venue two years earlier — but England dominated the second half 26-12 to seal a comfortable victory.

Backrower Henry Pollock, introduced as a replacement winger, scored twice in that second period, while Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams crossed late for Australia. Wilson acknowledged those contributions came far too late to matter.

“Every game we’re going into we want to be winning. Three losses on the trot, three convincing losses, it’s not good enough,” Wilson told reporters after the final whistle. “We’ve got seven days to take these learnings and be a lot better. We haven’t been playing to the standards we are. We know when we do play well, we can beat anyone in the world. We’re not doing that consistently enough.”

The result is a sharp contrast to the start of Australia’s new era under coach Les Kiss, which began with a five-match unbeaten run before the series losses to the All Blacks in Auckland and Sydney. Wilson pointed to set-piece struggles and poor field position as key factors against England, noting the Wallabies “didn’t really fire a shot” in the opening 40 minutes.

“England put us in tough field position. Felt like we’re always trying to exit, get out of our end. The set-piece battle at lineout, they’re getting a bit of pay there which was hurting us a little bit,” Wilson said.

Australia’s attention now turns to Scotland in the fifth round of the Nations Championship. The Wallabies have won just one of their last four matches at Murrayfield, but Wilson remained resolute about the group’s potential.

“If we can stay connected as a group and really keep trying to learn and be better, I’ve got no doubt this group can get back to their best,” he said.