Australia's absent scrumhalf George Gregan is not panicking in the wake of the 21-6 defeat to Ireland yesterday, claiming that basic errors cost his countrymen in Lansdowne Road.

The loss came just a week after the Wallabies edged to an unconvincing 25-18 win over Italy.

"Right across the board, just the fundamentals, it's funny in sport if you break down in fundamentals it's very difficult to find any sort of rhythm or cohesion," Gregan told reporters in Adelaide.

"If you're just a little bit off it gets exacerbated when you're playing quality teams like Ireland.

"Catching, passing, it could be tackling, it could be set pieces, it's a variety of things which make up a team performance."

Australia's most-capped player also had praise for the stand-in scumhalf Matt Giteau.

Giteau, normally a centre, played his third test at number nine on Australia's European tour.  "Matt's done really, really well there," Gregan said.

"He's got a history of playing that position, and he's just a really world-class player, he's played 10 and 12 and then gone to nine, so they're totally different skill sets and he's adapted really well," said Gregan. who opted to miss the tour to rest before next year's World Cup.

"It's a positive for the squad looking towards next year because there's a guy who can cover a lot of positions and play them at a really high level," added the 33-year-old Gregan, who has played a world record 127 internationals.