Australia set to be knocked out of the Rugby World Cup for the first time ever in the pool stages

The Wallabies have suffered a record defeat at the Rugby World Cup.

Australia is now set to be knocked out of the tournament following their devastating 40-7 loss to Wales in Lyon.

The Aussie side went into halftime with the score 16-6, however the second half was an absolute bloodbath.

Stan Sports commentator Sean Maloney said following game: "Aussie rugby hits rock bottom.

"The Wallabies World Cup dream has become an absolute nightmare.

"It's a record loss to Wales. It's a record loss at the World Cup.

Gutted.#Wallabies #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/gRRGNdtI1y

— Wallabies (@wallabies) September 24, 2023

"And for the first time in the history of the tournament, Australia will exit in the pool stages."

That is a brutal indictment on the sport, especially when the Wallabies used to be one of the most feared nations for rugby.

Australia kicked off its World Cup campaign well with a 35-15 win over Georgia.

However, the first signs of worry kicked in when the Wallabies played Fiji.

The Pacific Island nation beat Australia 22-15, which was the first time that had happened since 1954.

And then came the game against Wales.

The Welsh team managed to get two tries, one conversion, three penalties and a drop goal in the second half and Australia scored absolutely nothing.

This is the first time the Wallabies have lost two World Cup games in a row in 36 years.

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones told Stan Sport: "Wales were good enough to convert any pressure they had into points.

"I'm the person given the responsibility to coach the team and I haven't done it well enough.

"I feel the responsibility for it. Whether we've hit rock bottom I don't know, but I've got to take responsibility for it."

Former Wallabies international Justin Harrison is calling on a big review of the team.

"I think it's important that we don't get distracted by the emotion of one isolated event that's going to be very easy to hang things on," he said.

"Let's have a look at what we need to do in Australian rugby. We have significant governance reform that is needed to be undertaken. We have resource allocation that needs to have a waterfall effect to get to the community game.

"We understand that there are a series of events that have contributed to this defeat today, which from anyone who is involved in Australian rugby, is not acceptable.

"Let's have a look at the list of things, because it is a list. For us to concentrate on one or two things that have happened in the last week and not look at the culmination of 20 years of missteps, that is the result of 20 years of missteps right there.

"Let's concentrate on getting a helicopter view and all of us leaning in and finding out who's been culpable and how do we fix it."

The Wallabies still have their pool match against Portugal this Sunday (October 1).

There is a tiny hope that they might progress to the next round, however results from other games and penalty points would have to be on their side.