Australia 12-38 South Africa, Rugby Championship
Wallabies not smart enough - Ewen McKenzie
September 7, 2013
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Will Genia was unable to spark the Wallabies without front-foot ball © Getty Images
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Springboks outmuscle Australia (video available only in Australia)
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Frustrated coach Ewen McKenzie will look to "dumb down" the Wallabies' game plan after their embarrassing record defeat by South Africa at their former Suncorp Stadium fortress.

The Springboks busted their Australian east-coast hoodoo in style as the Wallabies slumped to their fourth consecutive Test loss - their worst streak in four years - and their third under McKenzie in front of 43,715 stunned fans.

McKenzie would not lament the absence of James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Wycliff Palu and David Pocock from his pack of noted enforcers, nor did he offer excuses for the performance of his side. McKenzie, instead, blamed poor execution in attack and "unacceptable" errors that cruelled their expansive plans to run the visitors into the ground with an uptempo game.

"The bottom line is we made too many errors to win," he said. "In the end we have to say why are we making the errors? Either we're playing a game that is too complicated or the skill level doesn't match it. So we'll go back and have a look. We'll dumb it down a bit and make it a bit simpler. That would be disappointing. But we'll look at the whole gamut."

McKenzie also pointedly noted Quade Cooper's "unnecessary" act in giving away the penalty that led to the Springboks prop Coenie Oosthuizen barging over in the sixth minute.

But he suggested the scoreline blew out only because the Wallabies kept chasing the win.

"When we got two scores behind do you shut up shop or do you try to win? We tried to win but all we did was dig a deeper hole."

Quade Cooper was particularly disappointing for Australia © Getty Images
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© AAP

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