This is the World Cup hangover from hell.
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Eight months after the Wallabies thrilled and spilled their way to a World Cup final under the charismatic coaching of Michael Cheika, they wear an entirely different honour.
Australian rugby fans have bought into Cheika's heart-on-sleeve narrative about belief and identity. But how many more losses to teams coached by steely-eyed pragmatists such as Jones are they prepared to suffer through before the romance hits the skids?
The Wallabies' performance in the Rugby Championship will be key to that question. The Bledisloe Cup has been sitting in a cabinet in New Zealand for so long that failure to bring it back is no longer the hanging offence it once was.