"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
No, it wasn't Albert Einstein who said the above words, but whoever did could have been watching the Wallabies over the last few years. Watching the same issues crop up repeatedly certainly makes one feel like they're going insane.
Once again, the Wallabies pushed out to a decent lead, their set-piece looked solid, they took their chances when given to them and entered the sheds at halftime with the game in their hands and a win on the horizon. A second half collapse, though, and it was another stroke in the loss column.
Am I talking about Saturday night in Brisbane? Or last week in Sydney? Last year against the Pumas? Or the second Test against the Lions in Melbourne?
"We're not far away from putting it together but we have to put it together next week," Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said at Suncorp Stadium after yet another loss.
"It was a very disappointing second half there. We put ourselves in a really good position... We're putting some really good patches of footy together, but we know rugby depends on the result and we need to be winning Test matches."
How many times have we heard those same words over the last 12 months? Or two years?
Wilson's solemn face wasn't anything new in the post-match press conference, neither Joe Schmidt's down turned lips as he attempted to talk up the positives of a match that had so many more negatives.
Yes, Fraser McReight was mammoth as he ducked his way over the line twice and monstered France in defence, stripping the ball twice, before he finished the match with 17 tackles, and 14 carries. And yes, the Wallabies have turned a corner at the set-piece after it fell to pieces during last year's end of season tour. By the end of the night, they'd won 100% of their scrums, 100% of their lineouts and pinched several of France's.
Their attacking maul gave France trouble, and they certainly held their own against a huge forward pack against the feed. And after conceding 12 penalties against Ireland a week earlier - 11 inside their own half - they conceded just five in Brisbane.
But for every issue that gets rectified, another pops up. It's whack-a-mole on a rugby pitch.
While slow starts were the crux of the Wallabies' issues last year, forced to chase down deficits in all but four Tests, they've flipped the script so far in 2026, twice building solid leads over their Nations Championship opponents. Now, however, the strong finishes and wet sail they so enjoyed in their wins over the Springboks at Ellis Park and Argentina in Townsville, continues to elude them.
So far in 2026, the Wallabies have scored a combined 45 first half points, but just 12 in the second. Meanwhile, they've conceded 43 over 80 second half minutes - a point every two minutes. We witnessed it last year as the tries began to dry up over the northern tour, falling from 3.6 per Test to just 1.7, while they leaked one more try per Test.
Whack. One goes down, another pops up.
But most tellingly it's the issues that have remained constant since Joe Schmidt took the mantel.
Again, the Wallabies were found wanting under the high ball. Max Jorgensen, Tom Wright and Dylan Pietsch failing to impose themselves in the air as France freely peppered the sky with kicks to simply reclaim possession midfield and cut the Wallabies defence to shreds.
That the Wallabies' defence that had been so solid against Ireland last week only to leak like a sieve against one of the most potent backlines in the world is worrying. By fulltime it was 31 missed tackles in total, many of them in the second half as they simply had no answer for the Mattieu Jallibert-Romain Ntamack backline combination.
For much of the second half it appeared the Wallabies were simply chasing ghosts, as the ball was moved with pace and efficiency from left to right and back again as France finished the match with 14 clean line breaks and Australia was left floundering as momentum swung to France's favour.
Momentum in rugby is constantly swinging, no one team enjoys it for a full 80-minutes, particularly at Test level, but what makes teams the best in the world is riding the wave, arresting the opposition's momentum and bringing the game back into their hands. For some time, it's been clear the Wallabies have no answer for these troubling moments and on Saturday night, as the wheels began to fall off, there was no return to structure or ball security and accuracy fell by the wayside.
Meanwhile, the reduction of penalties fails to tell the full picture. While the Wallabies remained clean for much of the match, once more as the pressure began to build and their backs hit the hall, the penalties followed.
First a poor Jorgensen tackle midfield opened the door for a France revival at the start of the second half, before a yellow card to Wright blew the game open. Another penalty to James Slipper for obstruction inside their own half in the 61st minute, after they finally got their hands on the ball, and the final nail in the coffin was Wilson, diving straight off his feet as he entered the ruck in the 68th minute, just as the Wallabies had split the defence to pieces and were inside France's 22 for just the second time in the half.
Questions will be asked too of Schmidt's selections.
Losing two first choice fly-halves in one week will disrupt any side's preparations, that he turned to an untested 10 in Declan Meredith - who failed to make a mark in his debut except to slip off a tackle in the lead up to Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang's second try of the night - instead of recalling Noah Lolesio or James O'Connor - who was spotted in the crowd - will have many scratching their heads.
While Schmidt clearly doesn't believe Japan's League Two is sufficient preparation for Test rugby, Lolesio's experience at Test level would surely have been a better option than Meredith on debut and Jock Campbell off the bench.
That Lukhan Salakai-Loto was also spotted in the crowd while Josh Canham struggled to impose himself with three missed tackles early on and a penalty, while Lachie Shaw was found out in just his second Test, will be a sore spot for many fans as well. Especially as it's widely known incoming coach Les Kiss plans to recall the hulking lock for the upcoming Japan series.
To add salt to the wound, there were three Australians on the pitch for France, including try-scorer Emmanuel Meafou, all three of which used their big bodies to impose themselves across the park.
Now with nine losses from 10 Tests, six straight, the Schmidt era sits on 36.66% win rate. Dave Rennie was sacked on 38.2%. With one final Test up Schmidt's sleeve, against Italy in Perth on Saturday, only a win will bring an end to the insanity. For now.