Beleaguered Wallabies captain George Gregan is no certainty to line up against England on Saturday after coach Eddie Jones revealed he would review the halfback position.
France easily beat the Wallabies on Saturday night - Australia's sixth successive loss - and the pressure is on Jones to revamp the line-up for the Twickenham Test, from the captain down, with Australia in their worst form slump since 1968-69, when they lost seven Tests in a row.
It is a dire situation that has placed not just the coach's position in jeopardy but those of many senior Wallabies.
While Jones is contracted to the Australian Rugby Union until the end of the 2007 World Cup, if this four-month losing streak continues, the ARU will have no option but to review his position.
Jones has the support of the main ARU powerbrokers but that can easily change, as former chief executive John O'Neill discovered several years ago when board members succeeded in having him replaced, even though he had just been involved in the successful staging of the 2003 World Cup.
Jones and Gregan are similarly dominant figures at the ARU, which at board level has struggled to show strong leadership since O'Neill was forced out.
However, to bolster his position by getting the team winning again, Jones may soon have to farewell his long-time skipper, especially as Gregan is playing nowhere near his best.
The Herald was told several months ago that senior ARU figures were aware Jones was seriously considering not selecting Gregan for this European tour. But an improved performance in the final round of the Tri Nations, against the All Blacks in Auckland, and the importance of having an established leader for a squad featuring many newcomers, saved Gregan. Nonetheless, Jones cannot save Gregan forever.
Gregan did himself no favours in Marseille, with another flawed effort on the day he overtook England prop Jason Leonard as rugby's most capped player. His service was slow and occasionally wayward. It was the performance of a player under pressure.
While the forward pack did not give him a solid base to work from, he cannot avoid the fact he is not the player he was.
Worse still for the celebrated halfback, Jones did not give his captain the full seal of approval when asked before the team headed to London on Sunday if Gregan was a certain selection for the Twickenham Test.
"He is like every other player in this team," Jones said. "We have to assess his position. I've got to have another close look at the video. At this stage, he is still captain and halfback of this side. But, like everyone else, we'll have a look at him."
Gregan's recent leadership record is terrible, and it must be remembered that the last time an Australian team went through such a slump, in the late 1960s, they were rugby also-rans. Much more is expected from a team which not so long ago was the best in the world. If Gregan is cast aside, Jones has three halfbacks to choose from - Chris Whitaker, Matt Henjak and Matt Giteau, who although better known at five-eighth or inside centre has played at No.9.
Before the team travelled to London, Jones was a forlorn figure in the team hotel foyer in Aix-en-Provence, watching a video of the French Test on his laptop computer.
"Six losses in a row is not too flash at all," he said. "We felt we were right for the game and again were in a position to win. We made nine line breaks to their four. If you take the primary possession statistic out of the game, we'd probably win the game.
"That's still the thing which is our Achilles heel. We can't get consistent, genuine, quality first-phase possession. We work exceedingly hard on that, but it didn't translate in performance, and I'm disappointed by that."
Jones is expected to make at least three or four team changes, with hooker Brendan Cannon and second-rower Mark Chisholm under threat after making glaring handling mistakes. Whether Jones will introduce a bevy of new players is doubtful, as he is cautious about pushing youngsters into the Test arena too early.
"We might look at changes in a couple of positions," Jones said. "Some of the young players here are potentially going to be a lot better players. But we have to weigh up how quickly we bring some of those through. You just want to develop them properly. For every player there is a pathway you have to take on what they can handle physically and mentally at their stage of their career."
The only injury concern revolves around back Mat Rogers, who hurt his wrist in Marseille.
