Coach Robbie Deans believes Australia's dramatic 26-24 victory over New Zealand in Hong Kong will provide a platform for their upcoming European tour.
Australia had not beaten the All Blacks in their previous 10 games and that sequence looked set to be extended at Hong Kong Stadium with the Wallabies trailing by five points when the final hooter sounded.
However, they kept the ball alive through several phases of play, allowing James O'Connor to crash over before the young winger nervelessly kicked the winning conversion from near the right touchline.
The triumph provided a welcome lift as they prepare for games against Wales, England, Italy and France next month but Deans was loathe to hail the result as a turning point in a mixed year so far.
'I'll let you be the judge of that,' he said.
'We've got home at the death twice in our last three outings, maybe it's becoming a habit. I hope so.
'It's a win. It's great for us, it's important for us for what's going to be a tough block of rugby games in the northern hemisphere. Flying there is a lot more pleasurable with a win than a loss but that's all it is.
'While it's not easy at times, we don't live in a bubble. We're aware of expectations just as we have expectations, hopes and ambitions ourselves. This is just a game along the way.'
Captain Rocky Elsom was delighted with the manner of Australia's performance and echoed Deans' assessment that it sets the team up nicely for the next few weeks.
'Just the way we went about it was the big thing,' Elsom said.
'James scored the last try and slotted that goal that made us all happy but just the way the blokes have grown as players and managers of the game was evident to us.
'We just felt like we could have kept coming. Obviously we had some issues in defence but that's very satisfying and to get a win there, I couldn't think of a better way to start the tour.'
Elsom also stressed his faith in team-mates never wavered during the frantic final few minutes as they desperately scrambled for the try that would level the contest.
'There's not much time to tell anyone to do anything in those final phases but we were helped by the fact they gave away several blatant penalties which meant we could have a go and if we dropped it we got another one,' Elsom said.
'That definitely helped but it was reasonably evident something would open up if we were good enough to take it.
'You can't micro-manage anything, if someone thinks something is on then you've got to trust them. Both teams attacked pretty well, both teams held on to the ball, it was free-flowing and hard to stop.'
