The pressure may be mounting on Joe Schmidt to get the Wallabies back to winning form, but Rugby Australia has no intention to part ways with the coach before July.
A damaging series of losses in Europe only exposed the glaring problems in the Wallabies' strategy, even if there were small glimpses of hope in those Test matches.
While the playing group has been hit with a large amount of criticism, it is Schmidt who the rugby world turns to in search for an explanation behind the results.
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The current Wallabies playing group is the first to lose 10 Tests in a calendar year, while Schmidt has neared an unwanted record of holding the worst win rate (39 per cent) for an Australian coach of 20 or more Tests.
Schmidt is set to remain in the top job until July before he hands over the reins to Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss, who will take on the role until the end of 2028.
However, while the recent run of results has seemingly set up the transition from Schmidt to Kiss a little more difficult, Rugby Australia are content with their plans.
"We've been very considerate with our approach to finding Joe's replacement," Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh told Wide World of Sports with Adam Hawse.
"We are thinking about that transition period from now until the end of the Nations Championship. We are absolutely committed (to Joe).
"We have one of the world's best coaches coaching the Wallabies and we've seen the progress under his leadership.
"We are the first ones to put up our hands and say that the results haven't been good enough (recently). In saying that, I think we are seeing glimpses in matches that (we are) good enough to beat anyone.
"We just have to win them more often than we are losing them."
Suggestions that the international playing schedule has become to congested were rejected by Waugh as a reason for the Wallabies sudden decline.
He instead reiterated his confidence that the team is not taking steps backwards.
"I don't think we've gone backwards, I just think we haven't been as consistent in the critical moments that matter," Waugh continued.
"We were in all of the games really … it was just critical moments that let the team down. I do think that the team has made progress over the past 12 months.
"It was very disappointing (in Europe) … it has been a tough schedule.
"If you think back to the Lions and the Rugby Championship – the level of ambition that the Wallabies had going into Japan, UK and Ireland. It was certainly their intension to finish in the top six going into the Rugby World Cup draw.
"There has been good progress throughout the year, but it's disappointing in terms of the win-loss ratio."
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