The Australian Wallabies have become victims of their own success and it was time to make changes and pension off several of the old-timers, press reports said on Monday.

The Wallabies, world champions two years ago and victorious against the British and Irish Lions and in the Tri-Nations against New Zealand and South Africa this year, crashed to their second consecutive international loss to France at the weekend.

The French outplayed the Australians to win 14-13 in Marseilles, with the Wallabies scoring a converted try in injury time to inflate their final margin.

The Australian press said it was time to bite the bullet and rebuild the Wallaby team for the 2003 defence of the William Webb Ellis Trophy in Australia.

Losses to England and France on successive weekends have left the Wallabies with the tag of Australian rugby's worst-performed team on an end-of-year tour since the 1981-82 side that lost three of four internationals in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Australian newspaper said new blood was needed to regenerate the team ahead of the World Cup. "The Wallabies had the physical prowess to dominate at the breakdown. It ensured they kept the ball for long periods and it allowed them to wear teams down," the newspaper's rugby writer
Peter Jenkins said.

"They strangled rivals into giving up points, rather than slaying them with any razzle dazzle ... now other leading nations have adopted the same aggression in defence that stood the Wallabies apart, and the Australian attack is being suffocated."

He said the Wallabies had not been able to monopolise possession and they did not have the brilliance in midfield to make an impression against well-organised defences.

The Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden wrote that coach Eddie Jones was unlikely to make radical changes to his team until next year, but many players now realised they were on notice.

Growden said the Australian performance against France was the sloppiest for some time. The Australian said the Wallaby forward pack needed more dynamism.

"The Australians have been kings of the world, but time does not stand still. With successive losses, Jones has been handed the latch to the trapdoor. He must pull it." - Sapa-AFP