Ireland captain Gus McCarthy praised the character of his side as they took a huge stride towards a place in the semi-finals of the World Rugby U20 Championship.
The Irish U20s were 30-10 winners against Australia at a rain-soaked Paarl, coming from 10-3 behind midway through the opening half.
To cap off a hugely important win for Richie Murphy's side, a late try for Diarmuid Mangan saw them pick up a bonus point, and ensures a win against Fiji in their final pool game next Tuesday will likely be enough to secure a place in the semi-finals.
"Absolutely delighted, just that last-minute try for that bonus-point shows the character of the group," the Leinster academy hooker said after the game.
"We were up in their 22 a few times and things didn't go well, but we kept fighting and that just shows our squad will never give up, they'll keep fighting and I'm so proud of the boys."
Having started slowly and gone 10-3 behind midway through the first half, a James Nicholson try, and a penalty for Sam Prendergast saw Ireland scrap their way into an 11-10 half time lead.
Richie Murphy's side dominated the second half, with McCarthy (above) and Brian Gleeson both adding tries to put them in control, before Mangan ensured they would pick up maximum points with the final play of the game.
Ireland's control of the second half was largely down to their dominance at the scrum, with the junior Wallabies struggling in the absence of tighthead Massimo De Lutiss, who went off injured in the first half.
"The Australian scrum was really highlighted to us as a super scrum, but we have a super scrum as well," McCarthy added.
"We really went at them, and it paid off. We have a great scrum coach, he sat us down and we did a lot of analysis on it, there was a lot of hard work. Well done to the props and second rows putting a lot of weight behind us. We were delighted with it."
The game was played in dreadful weather conditions in Paarl, while a poor pitch didn't help the spectacle.
Ireland are scheduled to play their final pool game against Fiji back at the Paarl Gymnasium on Tuesday, but there may be pressure for organisers to find an alternative venue, with the pitch deteriorating throughout this afternoon in the meeting of France of New Zealand, while South Africa and Italy are also set to play there later this evening.
"It really feels like an Irish winter, but these conditions probably suited us more than the Australians," he added.
"A lot of the aspects of the game we need to fix up on, our discipline maybe wasn't good enough in the first half, and handling issues, but we kept in, fought and stayed in it, and it just highlights how our squad just never gives up."
