Auckland - Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie was left shrugging his shoulders and hope his side would move on from their 51-20 thrashing at the hands of the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday.
The loss ensured Australia had no chance of regaining the Bledisloe Cup, a trophy they have not held since 2003, from their trans-Tasman neighbours even though there is still one game to play in Brisbane in October.
The first clash, which doubled as the opener for the Rugby Championship, last week in Sydney ended in a 12-12 draw, meaning if the Wallabies could win their first test against the All Blacks on Eden Park since 1986 they would be in the box seat heading to Brisbane.
The nature of last week's draw had some questioning whether the ascendancy of McKenzie's side might have reached the point that coincided with a downward slide for the world champions, a year out from the next World Cup in England.
Instead, his side were demolished in the forwards, unable to halt the All Blacks' counter-attack and driven back in the contact area throughout the entire match.
The All Blacks ran in six tries, five to their forwards, and eclipsed their previous highest score against Australia.
“We can't pretend anything else. We have come off a bunch of wins and this is a disappointing loss for us,” McKenzie told reporters. “I'm disappointed about how we went about it.
“They played well, no question but I know we're better than that, so it was very frustrating.
“You learn from your losses and we will learn about individuals and it will be how they respond. That's our challenge.”
The Wallabies next face South Africa in Perth on September 6. – Reuters