The Wallabies struggled to break open some resilient French defence in Paris © Getty Images

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Quade Cooper must take over Christian Leali'ifano's spot in the midfield. Kurtley Beale has to be shunted straight onto the Test bench. But most importantly, Michael Cheika has to somehow convince officials that Jacques Potgieter has not played for South Africa and is actually "Aussie Jack" and eligible for the Wallabies..

You wonder why the Waratahs won the Super Rugby title? It had a lot to do with Cheika's inspired decision to lure Potgieter from Pretoria, via Japan, and turn him into a human combustion engine, smashing anything and everything that was an obstruction on the way to belting someone else at the breakdown. With it came endless front-foot ball for the Waratahs backs to play with.

You wonder why the Wallabies were so hopeless against France in Paris? It had a lot to do with Cheika having no one of the calibre of Potgieter in his pack. Not one of his eight forwards, plus several replacements, came within coo-ee of Potgieter. Instead, Cheika was let down by a group of timid forwards who decided to turn the Test match into a Casper the Friendly Ghost convention. While Ben McCalman wasn't sighted until the final minutes, and Sean McMahon for the second Test in a row was way out of his depth, James Horwill plodded along like an exhausted draught-horse and Rob Simmons attempted to look tough but failed to provide any gristle. The front-row did its bit but was never an influence. Michael Hooper had his quietest Test in a long time, and was swamped by a far more effective French forward combination.

The forward pack struggled to make any ground through the strong French defence © Getty Images

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The front-row did their bit, but was never an influence. Michael Hooper had his quietest Test in a long time, and was swamped by a far more effective French forward combination.

As for the backline; what backline? Their attack was a mess, their passing and handling was under-six stuff at times, and defensively they were shown up over and over again. Players were caught out of position; and even when French winger Teddy Thomas scored a tremendous try, some of the Wallabies defenders must have thought they were in a Terry Thomas comedy going for the big laughs with stupid attempts at tackles.

Teddy Thomas's amazing try displayed the struggling Wallabies defence © Getty Images

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Leali'ifano was at times abominable, and he is bound to be dropped for the Ireland Test. Cooper showed enough in his 20-minute appearance at No.12 to convince Cheika that he should stay there to provide a much required edge to a very predictable attack.

Bernard Foley remains flakey at No.10, mixing up good minutes with dreadful moments, but he should be retained - if only for his reliable goal kicking. But accurate goal shooting will not be enough for Foley, and Cooper or Beale appear destined to eventually take over at five-eighth.

The Wallabies apologists took us to task last week for being too tough on the team being so brain-dead against Wales in Cardiff - particularly in the final minutes when Foley's stupidity in kicking the ball straight down a Welsh player's throat almost lost them the game.

Well, what do they think of the logic of the Wallabies deciding in the final minutes of this Test, with France down a man, to repeatedly play the blindside?

Sun in their eyes? No, it was a night Test. Where's the common sense in it? Surely Rugby 101 demands when you have an extra player that you play to space in the hope of finally exposing the opposition defence. Obviously several of the Wallabies at school were terrible at maths.

And what was the point of the Wallabies carrying on as if they had just won the Rugby World Cup, whooping and hollering when they were awarded a penalty on their own line in the 59th minute, because they thought they had stopped the French might following a driving maul from a winning lineout? Rubbish. When they look at the replay, they will discover they should have been penalised because James Slipper illegally pulled part of the maul down; they got away with it because referee Nigel Owen got it wrong - not for the first time in this Test.

But do not fear. The ever-bumbling Australian Rugby Union think-tank, which in its latest mess-up infuriated the Sydney club ranks by denying them funding next season, and which now also wants to call the National Rugby Championship the Australian Rugby Championship, will come to the rescue.

ARU think-tank chairman Michael 'The Lone Ranger" Hawker will be in Dublin for the pre-Ireland Test revelry with his ever-loyal sidekick Bill 'Tonto' Pulver, and could easily convince himself into teaching the Wallabies a backline trick or two at training.

It has happened before, with Hawker, in suit and tie, coming in to provide guidance to the Wallabies attack during practice sessions before a recent Dublin international. It doesn't even matter if it is pouring with rain and your mind's a muddle … the suited-and-booted Hawker continued on, preaching the ARU HQ gospel.

Wallabies: you have been warned; it is about to get much, much worse.

© Getty Images

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