England 14 Australia 28:MARTIN JOHNSON does not need telling that Test rugby is a harsh environment. No respite awaits England in the second half of the autumn series and the world champions, South Africa, and New Zealand await their turn in the manner of hyenas circling a wounded lioness.
Unless Johnson's team can recover swiftly from their Cook Cup collapse there is a danger of things getting significantly worse before they get better.
One argument is that England will learn more lessons in defeat than they might have done in victory, but that wafer-thin consolation. In terms of losing margins this equalled England's second-worst beating at home in 11 years.
It is a slightly hollow statistic, but it is still a cautionary one. Johnson the player would have taken this sort of result as a personal affront; Johnson the manager must find ways of imbuing warrior spirit, discipline and killer instinct into a squad which fell short in those respects on Saturday.
Though Danny Cipriani and Danny Care will win plenty of Test matches in future, behind a pack unable to dominate the Wallaby scrum or lineout and prone to the concession of too many silly penalties they fell victim to what the wily opposition coach, Robbie Deans, called "a stress response".
Cipriani's ugly, failed hack at a close-range drop-goal with men outside and the Wallabies stretched by multiple phases was the most glaring example, but it was by no means the only instance of England's frayed composure under fire.
By all accounts England have been training well, but smart opponents, as Johnson had warned, do not stand back and applaud. To allow Matt Giteau and Stirling Mortlock to slot seven penalties from eight attempts ignored the golden rule of the Test match jungle: do not feed the enemy easy points.
At 14-12 up with less than half an hour to play, England had the game by the scruff. Instead, Australia scored 16 unanswered points, including the decisive try after a throw to the back of the England lineout went astray.
A swift transfer from Mortlock and a celebratory dive by Adam Ashley-Cooper duly sealed their side's first win in London since 2004.
"International rugby is about decision-making and keeping a cool head in pressure situations," said England's number eight, Nick Easter, the scorer of his side's try after 35 minutes. "We have to improve and improve fast."
No one will lick their wounds more reflectively than Andrew Sheridan, Matt Stevens and Phil Vickery. The frontrowers knew the Wallaby scrum had taken positive strides but surely there was still an opportunity to exert some influence? To their horror, they encountered a souped-up Al Baxter and a far more resilient tight five as a whole, and they were left to consume a colossal helping of humble pie.
"We felt the set-pieces went all right," said Baxter, doing his best to keep a straight face.
Big Al, a qualified architect, thoroughly deserves his rebuilt reputation: twice England were shoved off their ball, and the Wallaby scrum, containing both its starting props, kept going right to the end.
"We were given a good lesson today," said Vickery, suggesting England had been outsmarted rather than outmuscled.
"It's very disappointing because it's an area of the game we pride ourselves on. We just didn't react very well. As a pack - and perhaps as a rugby nation sometimes - we're a bit too squeaky. I don't know what Johnno is going to do but I hope he shows faith in a lot of the guys because I think they deserve that."
Johnson, however, is left with many more questions than answers. He is short of quality up front and the hammerhead power of Nathan Sharpe and Stephen Moore, allied to Mortlock's heavy-duty tackling and Giteau's goal-kicking, exacted a heavy price. Steve Borthwick is the most conscientious of captains but earnest team-talks alone will not subdue the likes of Victor Matfield and Ali Williams the next two weekends.
• Guardian Service
ENGLAND: D Armitage (London Irish); Sackey (Wasps), Noon (Newcastle), Flutey (Wasps), Monye (Harlequins); Cipriani (Wasps; Flood, Leicester, 71), Care (Harlequins; Ellis, Leicester, 67); Sheridan (Sale; Vickery, 66), Mears (Bath; Hartley, Northampton, 70), Vickery (Wasps; Stevens, Bath, 54), Borthwick (Saracens, capt), Palmer (Wasps; Shaw, Wasps, 64), Croft (Leicester), Rees (Wasps; Lipman, Bath, 64), Easter (Harlequins; Haskell, Wasps, 58).
AUSTRALIA: Ashley-Cooper (ACT); Hynes (Queensland), Cross (Western Force), Mortlock (ACT, capt), Mitchell; Giteau (both W Force), Burgess; Robinson (both NSW), Moore (Queensland), Baxter (NSW), Chisholm (ACT; Mumm, NSW, 65), Sharpe (W Force), McMeniman (Queensland; Polata-Nau, NSW, 79), Smith (ACT), Brown (W Force; Palu, NSW, 45).
Referee: M Jonker(South Africa).
Next Saturday's Internationals
Ireland v Argentina Croke Park, Dublin - 2.45pm
England v South Africa Twickenham, London - 2.30pm
Scotland v Canada Pittodrie, Aberdeen - 2.45pm
Wales v New Zealand Millennium Stadium, Cardiff - 5.15pm
France v Australia Stade de France, Paris - 9pm (local-time)
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