After a six-match unbeaten streak starting against Italy mid-year, Australia have come crashing back to earth with three successive thrashings, including two back-to-back by resurgent New Zealand.
A bemused Kiss said his team had prepared well for England, the first match of their season-ending tour, but he was at a loss to explain how they failed completely to deliver on field.
"It's not what we're about," he said about the nature of the loss.
"Our training all week was really about making sure we found those opportunities that we believed were in the defence line of England.
"We didn't really fire a shot to get to those spaces."
While the team's handling errors and decision-making have hurt them on attack, their defence - run by former All Blacks assistant Scott McLeod - has been abysmal, shipping 138 points in the last three tests.
Wallabies fans may wonder what has happened to the team that upset world champions South Africa two months ago in a rousing display of skill and courage.
Kiss and his staff have a huge task to turn things around before Australia meet Scotland on Sunday at Murrayfield.
"It's not ideal," captain Harry Wilson said of the Wallabies' form a year out from hosting the World Cup.
"Every game we go into we want to be winning and three convincing losses on the trot is not good enough.
"We've got to bounce back. We've got seven days to take these learnings and be a lot better because we haven't been playing up to the standards we have."
Nations Championship 2026
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