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Wallabies endure more criticism after losing to England

A seventh straight loss for Australia's once-proud rugby team renewed criticism at home of both coach Eddie Jones -- whose post-match comments were referred to as "lame and self-serving" by one newspaper -- and captain George Gregan.

World champion England's 26-16 victory on Saturday at Twickenham left Australia -- the only team to have won the World Cup twice -- matching its worst losing streak since 1969.

The pressure on Gregan to retain his place in the side -- let alone the captaincy -- also gathered pace after he was sinbinned for a professional foul that was punished by a try to English winger Ben Cohen. Gregan was replaced by Chris Whitaker with 15 minutes left to play.

Jones, whose side plays Ireland in Dublin next weekend, insisted he was determined to stay in his job despite opposition.

"I'm just trying to coach the side as well as I can," he said.

That wasn't good enough for many of the observers back home.

"It was an utter embarrassment, Eddie Jones conceded, but the Wallabies coach was still convinced that, out of the wreckage at Twickenham ... a better, more powerful Australian side would emerge," wrote rugby editor Wayne Smith in the Australian newspaper on Monday.

"What else could he say after the Wallabies slumped to a seventh consecutive defeat, needing to beat Ireland in Dublin next Saturday to avoid becoming statistically the worst Australian team of the past half a century?

Greg Growden, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, criticized the performance of the Australian forward pack, but suggested it might not solely be Jones' fault.

"As the Wallabies find themselves engulfed in a major forwards crisis, coach Eddie Jones has revealed the Australian Rugby Union board ignored a request two years ago to start up a scrummaging school, which if instituted may have averted the weekend's Twickenham test disaster,'" wrote Growden.

"Never has a professional Australian pack suffered as much humiliation."

Peter Jenkins, writing in News Limited newspapers, also appeared to let Jones off the hook.

"Jones faces an uncertain future after the Wallabies, left defenseless by a humiliating front-row slaughter, slumped to a seventh successive defeat," wrote Jenkins. "But in the wake of a match where England's scrum power ensured the Wallabies backs were largely frustrated observers, Jones told of a paper he presented to the ARU board after losing the 2003 World Cup final.

"At the end of the tournament I suggested we needed a tight five scrummaging school," Jones said. "It hasn't happened."
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