The Wallabies have threatened a fairytale comeback despite a raft of fresh injuries, before blowing their chances in a 25-17 rugby Test loss to England in Brisbane.
The visitors led 19-0 in the first half but Australia edged to within five points late at Suncorp Stadium, despite four injuries and a yellow card to Dave Rennie’s men.
But some costly turnovers when they had all the running hurt the Wallabies, who scored two tries to England’s one but watched as man-of-the-match Owen Farrell booted six penalties.
It creates a decider in Sydney next Saturday when the Wallabies’ depth will be tested after a heavy injury toll.
The Jordan Petaia fullback experiment lasted just three minutes before he was concussed making a tackle.
The 22-year-old struggled to get to his feet when he eventually limped off and will almost certainly miss next week’s third Test in Sydney.
His injury made it a third fullback casualty for the Wallabies in the series, after Tom Banks broke his arm in Perth and Andrew Kellaway (hamstring) pulled up lame during the week.
Izaia Perese’s knee injury to begin the second half was another cruel blow for the in-form NSW Waratahs back and Rennie.
The casualty ward was overrun when substitute forward Scott Sio and lock Cadeyrn Neville also left the field with issues in the second half.
Perese had earlier received a yellow card for a deliberate knock down, his attempt to intercept Marcus Smith’s long pass judged by the TMO as an illegitimate attempt to catch the ball.
It capped a mostly horrible first half for the Wallabies, Ellis Genge’s thunderous run to bowl over Michael Hooper setting the tone in the first minute.
Billy Vunipola cruised over in line-out maul to open the scoring before Owen Farrell kicked four first-half penalties to build a 19-0 lead.
Australia’s first visit into England’s quarter brought a simple try, Taniela Tupou crashing over in his return from a calf injury to make it 19-7 at the break.
Samu Kerevi’s try in the 48th minute made it an eight-point game before Smith’s indiscretion and the hosts edged closer.
Tom Wright, who shared fullback duties with an out-of-sorts James O’Connor, worked some magic with the play of the night.
His sharp break, long kick and one-handed tackle into touch gifted the Wallabies prime position.
But they handed the ball straight back with a wonky lineout throw and Farrell took three points down the other end to create an eight-point buffer.
Again the Wallabies missed touch after earning a penalty as chances went begging, a forward pass also halting a promising raid in the final few minutes as Australia’s unbeaten run at the venue was halted at 10 Tests.