Small margins separate Wallabies as 10-year low looms

Replacement flyhalf Ben Donaldson missed two late penalty kicks, both from long range and out wide, while starting No.10 Carter Gordon missed two conversions as the hosts piled on five tries.

But 12 penalties and those misses hurt the Wallabies, ill-discipline again a theme as coach Joe Schmidt prepares to pass the baton to Les Kiss after next weekend's Perth Test against Italy.

A loss at Suncorp Stadium would see the Australian team head west on their first six-game losing streak since 2016.

Horan, encouraged by what he saw in Sydney, said the loss highlighted the fine margins separating the eighth-ranked Wallabies from the best.

"If you pull the Test apart, we're clutching for where we get better," two-time World Cup winner Horan told AAP.

"If you're finding ways to improve ... we nailed pretty much everything apart from four kicks from the sideline."

Scrumhalf Lonergan shone in his first Test start before being taken off before halftime and assessed for damage to his throat.

Gordon was taken off with cramp in both calves and is awaiting medical clearance ahead of the French Test.

Horan said Schmidt had indicated that Lonergan was Gordon's back-up kicker and would have been preferred, ahead of Donaldson, if he was still on the field in the late stages.

"You've got to have two or three kickers, and Donaldson's got to step up if Carter and Lonergan are replaced," he said.

"Carter's first two kicks, very difficult, but you need everything spot-on in Test match footy ... look at (Thomas) Ramos for France, he nails everything.

"And in the last 10 minutes, the whole thing you're doing is trying to get inside their 50 for that (kick) to come into play, without thinking 'we have to go for touch'.

"Lonergan, he's a bit like (former Wallabies scrumhalf) Nic White, who they would turn to for those kicks from beyond 50."

Lonergan kicked at 90 per cent after round eight for the Brumbies and is proven from long range.

Reds No.10 Gordon was shielded from kicking duties until late in the Super Rugby Pacific season in an attempt to manage his leg niggles.

The case for Lonergan, who is understood to be cleared of injury and available, might not need to be made, given Gordon is under a cloud.

Horan hopes the pair are fit to resume their partnership in Brisbane after linking superbly at their first attempt.

"Their first thought, second thought and third thought is to run the ball," Horan said.

"But Carter ... he asked those questions, then didn't go to a fourth or fifth phase, he just said, 'OK, let's get out of here'.

"His game management's really improved."

Ramos, like superstar halfback Antoine Dupont, has been rested from France's tour, which began with a similarly tense 34-32 loss to New Zealand in Christchurch.

Fullback Jock Campbell, who scored in his first Test in nearly four years, said the Wallabies needed to practise what they preached.

"It's just a few moments and they were clinical and we let a couple slip," he said.

"That's hard to take ... but you've got to do it on the field.

"(We can't be satisfied) until we do get over the hump."