The Wallabies are once again left to soul search after yet another frustrating defeat, falling 24-8 to the Springboks in Sydney.
Dave Rennie's men never seemed to win the contact zone as a fired-up South Africa dominated the contest.
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It's the third time the Wallabies have failed to back up an impressive win, dropping games to England and Argentina.
With the Bledisloe on the horizon, captain James Slipper conceded they needed to harness the feelings if they wish to turn their fortunes around.
“I made a point after the game that this one has to hurt a lot,” Slipper told reporters.
“I want the boys to hurt because yes South Africa were good but I felt like we didn’t play much Rugby at all tonight…I wanted the boys to realise how much it hurts and hold onto that and let that drive into the future.
“I want it to hurt but at the same time we want to be better because we have to and that’s the challenge I put to the group.
“We wanted to review last week and be a better Rugby team, at no stage do we think we’re the finished product. Individually, I think we need to have a look at ourselves. I’m confident we’re tracking in the right direction, we just need a bit more polish and execute under pressure.”
Whilst the possession was split down the middle, the hosts rarely had a chance to show their attacking potential, 'strangled' by the physical Springboks defence.
Their lone venture in the first half resulted in a penalty whilst the departure of Hunter Paisami and Noah Lolesio to concussions in the second half showed as they struggled to execute and find continuity in their attacking moves.
"The biggest thing was we needed to play with a little bit more optimism tonight. We're struggling to get our game going, we needed to play with a bit of tempo and kick smarter," coach Dave Rennie said.
"Even at 17-3 with 10 minutes left we felt if we got down the other end of the field and get some continuity, maybe we could claw this back.
"It felt like we didn't fire a shot and they're very good at strangling us, they go multi-phase and then put it up in the corner and choke you down there.”
Rennie was hopeful the extended break will ensure Paisami and Lolesio will clear HIA protocols in time for the opening Bledisloe Test in Melbourne.
However, the status of Taniela Tupou remains up in the air after injuring his calf whilst warming up in the first half.
It is the opposite calf to the one that kept him out for months, with Rennie and the Wallabies still waiting to find out the severity.
