After an unbeaten five match streak to the Les Kiss era, the Wallabies crashed back to earth with a thud over the last fortnight - and it’s a thud that Ryan Lonergan expects the side to learn quickly from.
The Wallabies found themselves on the receiving end of back-to-back losses to the All Blacks, with the second half in Auckland and the first half in Sydney seeing Dave Rennie’s men take the Bledisloe Cup series by the scruff of the neck.
Watch every second of the 2026 Nations Championship live and on demand via Stan Sport.
It came with many tough lessons and a dent in confidence for Les Kiss’ men, but lessons that Lonergan believes are needed as the side looks to the Nations Championship next month.
“It's a pretty big hit,” Lonergan conceded following the loss in Sydney.
“There's still a lot of shapes and opportunities that we're not executing that we were against a team not quite at the All Blacks level.
“It's a good wake-up call and I don't think there's anything wrong with the shape, it's just how we execute within that and it's a great challenge to be able to play at the All Blacks twice. Now we know where we're at.”
The side will face a difficult review from the last fortnight of action, with the side drifting away from the key elements that had proven successful against the likes of the Pumas and Springboks.
Ultimately, the errors come down to patience and execution for Lonergan, with the All Blacks’ speed and pressure proving fatal across the last fortnight of action.
But the scrumhalf knows that if the side is capable of taking the lessons forward, it will prove valuable when the sides next meet on ANZAC Day next year.
“Previously this year we've stayed quite patient and we've been really, really good down there in that zone,” Lonergan explained.
“The last couple of weeks we're just missing that execution. It's as simple as a pass sometimes, and our structures down there in that zone haven't changed much.
“Credit to their defence though, there's still definitely times there where we just push it a little bit too much or if we haven't worked hard enough and there's not so much pushing it, it's just executing it. It’s a fine line.
“The first half particularly, we had a good opportunity there at the very start of the game, similar to last week really, and we didn't execute there. When they got their opportunity down there, they looked really good, we couldn't really get any dominance in defence
“They got their game rolling and then from then on it was ne-way traffic, the same story really, we just couldn't really get any dominance.
“We've got to look after our own backyard, and know what we do week to week has got to be at the standard that we need to be able to deliver at. I think there is still room for us to improve there throughout the week and that shows at the weekend.”
One positive for Lonergan was the form of his Brumbies teammate and room mate Declan Meredith, who, despite not having a perfect game, stood out in Sydney with a more confident performance, boding well for selection next month.
The Wallabies will likely welcome back several stars such as Carter Gordon, Tom Hooper, Taniela Tupou, Hunter Paisami, Len Ikitau and more, but Lonergan believes Meredith showed enough to warrant his ticket to Europe.
“I really enjoy playing alongside him and I have all year down there at the Brums,” Lonergan added.
“His ability to be able to back himself and take the game on, he's a real attacking threat and he's someone that's fun to play with, to be honest.
“It's a nice little partnership that we've built there, I'm super stoked for him, hoping to get a bit of experience there for him and I'm sure we'll be better for it.”
