The Wallabies’ 25-7 loss to England confirmed they are in a slump – they haven’t played well across their past five Tests.

At Twickenham, there were the now-familiar struggles under the high ball, with even Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii unable to climb as high as the English. But the biggest concern was the lack of variety in attack, and the apparent insistence on playing into the teeth of the England defence.

The Test was crying out for the Wallabies to put the ball where the space was – in behind the advancing English line – and when Tane Edmed did that in the first half with a neat chip kick, it could have led to a Jake Gordon try had Fraser McReight been able to find him with a tricky pass.

But that was an isolated moment of invention, as the Wallabies played too much rugby between halfway and their own 22. Throw in too many unforced errors – Hunter Paisami conceded a penalty deep in Wallabies territory for taking an extra roll while carrying the ball – and the Wallabies gift-wrapped the win to an England side that only needed to play a par round.

Joe Schmidt was right to challenge the pre-Test narrative that England lacked preparation time; the flipside is that England were........

© The Sydney Morning Herald