Wallabies to take new off-side approach

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EWEN McKenzie has suggested his Wallabies side will test the off-side breakdown rules for the remainder of their spring tour after England exploited that area at Twickenham.

Australia's 20-13 loss dashed hopes of a Grand Slam one game in to a five-Test tour, and they must now regroup for looming games against Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

After the Twickenham defeat, McKenzie conceded that what his understanding was of off-side interpretation after conversing with officials differed from how it was actually refereed by George Clancy last Saturday.

"There's some context to the way the game is played here, which we'll make adjustments for, we thought we'd made enough adjustments but obviously not enough," McKenzie said.

"It's just the way things are managed on the field, particularly around breakdown, what constitutes off-side and what doesn't.

"You've got to look where those people are standing, there's a lot of moments we'll have a look at.

"If that's how the game is played here we'll obviously need to adjust accordingly."

Two controversial decisions that led to both of England's tries also left a sour taste in the coach's mouth, although his side was dominated in scrums and failed to convert opportunities after leading 13-6 at half-time.

Before England's first try, their fullback Mike Brown had put a foot in touch, but the touchline official ruled he was in play.

Clutching a photo given to him of Brown's foot in touch after the match, McKenzie gritted his teeth and spoke of the need for his side to "move forward".

"You have to dust yourself and keep going, but it's just generally hard work at the moment," he said.

"We're living in the moment.

McKenzie was left to lament a number of tough calls after the match. Source: AP

"Everyone's talking about Grand Slams, we didn't spend a lot of time [talking about that] we just focused on beating England.

"Now we'll focus on beating Italy.

"There are moments in time - it's like winning a British & Irish Lions series - you get that chance, and we let that moment go. The next best thing is winning the next game."

McKenzie said the disappearance of the Grand Slam prospect would not diminish his players' motivation for the rest of the tour.

"I don't think it will be a problem," he said.

"They'll be disappointed but that's life, you win them, you lose them. There is always going to be a loser on the day, you dust yourself off and keep going, that's the life they've chosen.

"The games come thick and fast, you can't sit there and mope, we've got to make adjustments."

Asked if this performance was a step backwards after gains against Argentina and New Zealand, McKenzie said: "In terms of backwards, people will judge that.

"We're remaining competitive on the scoreboard.

"That game we could have been a winner, it could have been a draw, we lost. We're not miles away, but we've got to handle three or four moments better."

McKenzie praised his side's fight in a difficult first half where they were on the receiving end of referee George Clancy's whistle.

"We had to fight the opposition, we had to fight tooth and nail just to get the ball to be able to express ourselves," McKenzie said.

"I was really pleased at half-time because we had to fight against the tide of the game, I thought we'd set it up alright for the second half but a couple of critical moments were pretty much it.

"That's what happens in a tight match."

England coach Stuart Lancaster said his side's victory was a major step forward after they had lost to Australia last year.

"We had some big players missing, three making their first start in a Test match at Twickenham, a new guy running the lineout and Australia had been together since before the Lions series," Lancaster said.

"To go out and get the win like we did, it is a great start for us. We built our game in the second-half, we didn't start chasing the scoreboard early in the second-half and built pressure on Australia.

"It was a great start. You put it into context. This time last year the score-line was the other way around. It is better to have won than lost, that's for sure."

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