Wallabies fans are entitled to be frustrated but it’s not all grim for this tired, talented side

At the end of a frenetic first half, where Angus Bell ran in one of the great tries by a Wallaby prop, where Matt Faessler powered over for a brace, where Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored a solo stunner and Thomas Ramos and Nicolas Depoortère dotted down as well, Tane Edmed gathered a pass at first receiver. The young fly-half, playing in his seventh Test, was having a decent game. He’d slotted two of his three shots at goal. He was brave to the line, carrying with zip, stitching moves together as he tried to spark a backline short on fluency. But with the clock in the red, he attempted a raking kick to the corner. Either he didn’t realise the 40 minutes had elapsed, or he thought he was in his own half and a 50-22 was on. Either way, after watching the ball skid into touch to end the half, he stood still, hands on head, stunned by his own misread. Related: Wallabies condemned to winless Europe tour in loss to France as pressure mounts on Joe Schmidt Does this sum up Australia’s European tour? It’s tempting to tug at that thread. A young playmaker, full of intent and enterprise, doing almost everything right before making the sort of mistake that spoils the picture. A team brimming with effort but undermined by moments that expose the rickety scaffolding still holding them together. This is not to pin a disappointing autumn on a young 10 still finding his feet. A great deal conspired against Joe Schmidt’s side as they ran out of puff after an exhausting 2025 in which they played more Tests than any other nation. Fifteen matches in 140 days – a game every nine – would stretch even the deepest squads. For Australia, with their reliance on a handful of frontline players, their inconsistent access to overseas talent and the unrelenting pull of rival codes back home, it was brutal. Fatigue shows up in more than soft shoulders. It worms its way into decisions, into the micro-moments where Test matches tilt. It’s no accident that the Wallabies were often at their most brittle in the final 10 minutes of each half, when concentration thins and systems wobble. That is not to excuse them. This is still the team that beat South Africa in Johannesburg and exceeded all expectations against the British and Irish Lions. But reality must be acknowledged: they were always up against it this November. There’ll be inquisitions, rightly, into the collapses against England and Ireland, the shock defeat to Italy, the vulnerability under the high ball, and the lack of punch off the bench. Loyal fans are entitled to be frustrated. Still, it wasn’t all grim. Even in defeat – this 48-33 loss being their fourth from four games – there were moments that cut through the gloom and hinted at a brighter trajectory. Max Jorgensen’s try against France was one such moment. Taking the ball tight to the left tramline, he straightened, skipped past the first defender and accelerated into the clear as if switching into another frame rate. The grubber ahead was bold, the regather audacious. It reminded everyone that Australia still produces footballers who see space like artists see colour. It also highlighted the contrast with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, whose gifts remain frustratingly bottled. The Wallabies know what he can be – a towering threat in contact and a weapon in the air – but they’ve yet to find a way to involve him consistently. Too often he’s stranded, chasing scraps, reduced to straightening the line rather than bending it. Unlocking him is central to Australia’s evolution. That, inevitably, loops back to the fly-half conundrum. With Noah Lolesio cruelly sidelined, the Wallabies’ options remain unsettled. Edmed isn’t ready. Carter Gordon hasn’t turned potential into authority. James O’Connor should not re-enter the equation. The jersey feels like a revolving door when what Australia needs is a fixed point. One player who would steady things is Len Ikitau. He is the Wallabies’ metronome, the defensive organiser, the line-straightener, the calm centre of a backline that often feels too chaotic. When he plays, everything looks connected. When he’s absent, the cohesion evaporates. He is, in many ways, the true linchpin of the backline rebuild. Related: Is it better to be occasionally brilliant or consistently good? Ask the Wallabies | Daniel Gallan Up front, the picture is clearer after this tour. Will Skelton and Rob Valetini remain the pillars of the pack, and when both are fit, Australia carry genuine heft. The front row also looks more secure and the set-piece competes in patches. These are work-ons, not reasons to tear up the playbook. So, what does this tour really say? That the Wallabies are incomplete, inconsistent, and still far from the polished product Schmidt and his successor, Les Kiss, wants. But also that they’re not lost. There were enough sparks, enough signs of shape and intent, to suggest this is a team at the beginning of something, not the end. They leave Europe bruised, exposed and wiser. They also leave it knackered. With a home World Cup in 2027 looming, they don’t need perfection. They just need momentum and a clearer sense of who they are becoming. Right now, the thing they need most of all is a holiday.