Both Shane Lowry and Paul Dunne floundered in the wet and windy conditions conditions on day two at the World Cup of Golf, as they posted a score of 76 that left them six shot behind joint-leaders Belgium and South Korea.
For the Irish pair it was marked contrast to their opening round of 64 and they now find themselves in a share of 13th place after the foursomes
Amid howling wind and driving rain at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne, the unfancied Belgian pair of Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry were mostly seamless in the foursomes, shooting a one-under 71 to move to a 10-under total of 134.
Overnight co-leaders South Korea were almost as impressive, with Kim Si-woo and An Byeong-hun combining for a 72, as only four teams in the 28-nation field scored under par.
England (74), Italy (71), India (72) and Malaysia (73), are all on eight-under.
Joint overnight leaders Australia stumbled to six-over by the 12th hole, the duo of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith spending much of their day trying to mop up each other's mistakes.
The pair rallied with three consecutive birdies from the 14th to remain in contention, four strokes off the pace.
Thrashed by Europe at the recent Ryder Cup, the United States' struggles in team events continued as Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley crashed to a seven-over 79 to fall 11 strokes behind the leaders, their title hopes all but shot.
