Awful beating leaves one of Australia's proudest sporting teams on the verge of a disaster that hasn't been seen for 67 years

The Wallabies are just one defeat away from their first winless tour to Europe in 67 years after Ireland launched their own Australian hero Mack Hansen to bury them with a hat-trick of tries amid a chastening record 46-19 loss in Dublin.

Hansen, the maverick speedster made in Canberra, went over for his three tries within the first half-hour and the Wallabies simply never recovered as they succumbed six tries-to-three in the pelting rain of Lansdowne Road on Saturday night.

Following gloomy defeats to England and Italy, the reverse has left coach Joe Schmidt staring at four-straight northern hemisphere defeats, the first time since 1958 this will have befallen any Wallabies team unless they can conjure up something special in Paris against Six Nations champions France next weekend.

So the Aviva Stadium, scene of so many of Schmidt's finest moments when coach of Ireland, this time offered the rugby folk hero one of his most dispiriting nights in his farewell Dublin Test.

And at the heart of it was one of the talents that has somehow got away from Australian rugby, with the 27-year-old Hansen, whose mum was born in Ireland, now a firm favourite with the locals and his coach Andy Farrell.

Injured during the Lions tour so he couldn't parade his skills in the Test series, Hansen, normally a flying winger, has only just returned from a niggling long-term foot injury - but he looked hungry for action as Farrell asked him to fill in at fullback.

Ultimately, his treble in the opening 28 minutes did the damage, which was compounded by a terrible final 10 minutes of the second half for the visitors when captain Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw all ploughed over for the rampant Irish.

The Wallabies by that point were looking a shattered, weary rabble, down to 14 men after a late yellow-red for Nick Frost.

Harry Wilson's side had first-half scores from Len Ikitau and Fraser McReight, and a 74th minute consolation try from Billy Pollard, but with their attack blunt and their defence eventually shredded, it was a humbling night for Schmidt and co as Ireland recorded their biggest win over Australia.

Schmidt, however, tried to find a ray of hope after the loss.

'A tough one to take, obviously,' he told Stan Sport.

'We were in the game for the first 60 minutes and probably we had a line-out just down here in the corner. 

'I think if we get something out of that, we're within a score with 20 [minutes] to go and we're right in the game.

'You know, we really chased the game in the last 10 minutes and sometimes that can get away from you.

'You're trying to create opportunity for yourself but you're a man down and you offer space and opportunity to the opposition, and with a really efficient opposition like the Irish are, that scoreboard got away from us.

'But I honestly believe it's not because the players stopped working hard. They were trying.

'But sometimes when you try too hard and you're over-chasing things, it does become difficult.'

Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson was also searching for positives after the final whistle.

'I thought we showed a lot of character in that first half,' he said.

'To be honest, in that second half, we just got drowned out.

'The boys fronted. It's hugely disappointing. The game was there for us and we just couldn't get into that second half.

'They outplayed us, and it's really disappointing because we're better than that.'