The 26-year-old flanker, who had been tipped by many to captain England before injury struck prior to this year’s RBS 6 Nations, started from the bench as Australia held on for a 20-14 win.

Nick Cummins’ try and four penalties and a drop goal from Berrick Barnes proved enough the Wallabies, despite an onslaught from England late in the second half.

Manu Tuilagi’s try, four minutes after Cummins’, and three penalties from Toby Flood proved in vain as did flanker Wood’s 30-minute cameo from the bench at Twickenham.

And, with much of the pre-match talk about Australia bouncing back from their 33-6 defeat to France the weekend before, Wood insists England must now do the same with South Africa up next.

“The intention is to bring as much energy as possible off the bench but it wasn’t enough. We felt like they were going to crack any minute but we couldn’t finish them off,” said Wood.

“Australia have set a precedent that when things go wrong and you are written off, that is the way to bounce back and that is what we must try and do.

“The right things were said after the game about being harder on ourselves and not letting chances like that slip. It is about when you get a chance at international level – nail it.

“It will be a huge physical challenge next week. We have to get our head around that and face them head on, go after them and bring the fight to them.”