The Wallabies have the chance to revive their tour against Ireland in Dublin this weekend, but the sense that a slow-motion car crash is unfolding in the north is not unfamiliar to the Wallabies faithful.

Since 2013, only two of the Wallabies’ end-of-season tours against Six Nations opponents have yielded more wins than losses. The first was in 2013, when new coach Ewen McKenzie guided the Wallabies to an impressive 4-1 record in what would turn out to be his only northern tour, and the second was in 2016, as Michael Cheika’s side went 3-2 in a tough tour that finished with losses to Ireland and England.

Such successful tours were relatively commonplace in the first part of the new millennium. To provide an example of how expectations have changed, coach Robbie Deans was on the brink of

See Full Page