World Cup-winning coach Jake White says the Wallabies face a challenge to find a mental edge in the remaining two Tests against the British and Irish Lions to gain momentum and win the series.
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The Lions landed the first blow when they won the opening Test in Brisbane last Saturday just four days after a shock loss to the White-led ACT Brumbies in Canberra.
Both teams suffered injury tolls in a brutal start to the three-Test series and will have to regroup ahead of the second match in Melbourne on Saturday night.
Had Kurtley Beale nailed a last-minute penalty, the Wallabies would have escaped with victory at Suncorp Stadium.
Instead, the Lions got away with a 23-21 win and put themselves in a perfect position to win their first series since 1997.
The Wallabies were hit with injuries in their back line with Pat McCabe and Digby Ioane ruled out for the remainder of the series while Christian Lealiifano, Berrick Barnes and Adam Ashley-Cooper are all battered and bruised.
The Lions have lost powerful second-rower Paul O'Connell while Wallabies skipper James Horwill was exonerated from a stomping charge.
On the Lions' Australian tour in 2001, the Wallabies came back from a 1-0 deficit to win the last two Test matches and claim a series win.
White said that was proof the Wallabies could fight their way back into the series.
"It's been done before so you just don't know what will happen," White said.
"I just think psychologically that it will be tough to get up for two Tests in a row.
"It becomes a battle off the field for both teams now more so than it was before. A lot has changed in the past couple of days and O'Connell is out.
"The challenge for the Wallabies is can they get up for the second Test and if they do can they replicate it a week later. It's a war of toughness now."
