THE Wallabies' ever-deepening injury crisis has claimed another two victims, Will Genia and Digby Ioane.
Halfback Genia is facing a six-week layoff with a broken bone in his hand and winger Ioane looks certain to miss the entire Tri-Nations campaign.
Ioane has been scheduled for shoulder surgery after landing heavily at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, after contesting a high ball against England and joins second-rower James Horwill and No 8 Wycliff Palu on the list of Test regulars not available for selection before the spring tour in November.
X-rays yesterday confirmed Genia had broken his hand in his comeback match to the Australian side after missing the opening two Tests of the season because of a medial ligament tear.
As solidly as he played in the Test, Genia did not make his usual impact. It was difficult to tell whether he was suffering from ring rust after five weeks on the sideline or whether England was merely introducing him to the new level of scrutiny he can expect now that he is recognised as one of the world's great players -- probably both.
Even though the Wallabies have one last Test to play in the June program, against Ireland in Brisbane on Saturday, Genia's injury is not the calamity it might have been before Luke Burgess re-established himself as a Test-standard halfback against England in Perth.
Still, Australia's depth in the No 9 position is becoming alarmingly threadbare after Western Force halfback Justin Turner suffered a season-ending knee injury at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina last week.
The Wallabies' wing resources are much richer, but then they may need to be.
It could well be that Peter Hynes and Lachlan Turner both will figure against Ireland if coach Robbie Deans decides he needs a replacement not just for Ioane, but for Drew Mitchell who was unaccountably lead-footed in defence against England.
Deans was all but biting his bottom lip yesterday to suppress a few scathing criticisms, but could not entirely hide his disappointment at his side's general lack of urgency against England.
"That's what maturity is all about," Deans said.
'Maturity is about not letting individuals and teams in; forcing them to earn everything they get. There were elements within the game . . . we score, restart, no ownership."
The Wallabies indeed scarcely won any ball in the air, a telling pointer to a general lack of enthusiasm and while it is possible to debate whether the better side won on the night, there can be no question England was by far the more committed.
One area Deans did quarantine from criticism was the vastly improved, if still developing, scrum and he was gobsmacked by claims from England veteran Steve Thompson that the greenhorn Wallabies front row had stayed in the contest by cheating.
