Some gutsy scramble and late defensive heroics have ensured Les Kiss' tenure as Wallabies coach starts with a victory.
The 35-32 win over Japan went down to the wire as the Brave Blossoms threw everything at them.
Watch every second of the Wallabies' Tests against Japan live and on demand via Stan Sport.
So what did we learn?
It was far from the Wallabies’ best but they survived a major banana skin.
Japan were more than up for it and were deadly in counterattack, taking their chances with Australia down a player.
The scramble defence from the Aussies was excellent, making 40 tackles more with the same amount of misses as Japan.
There’s plenty to work on before Townsville, with the new systems clearly taking time to get used to
But the Les Kiss era had to start with a win, no matter how, for the new coach to settle in.
The Wallabies’ bench was vital in coming away with the win as the decision to stack a host of stars paid off.
Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou were excellent, Bell setting up a try with a pilfer as Tupou got what would be the game sealer.
Charlie Cale and Jeremy Williams also added real speed, whilst Tate McDermott was back at his best.
It’s a luxury now for the Wallabies as they build depth.
Miles Amatosero’s aggression came back to cost the Wallabies as the lock is left to rue a clumsy cleanout that saw him red carded.
There seemed to be mitigation with Warner Dearns falling to the ground, but the Foul Play Review Officer felt differently, upgrading it to a red.
It essentially led to a 14-point swing, Japan scoring straight away via number eight Faulua Makisi.
Amatosero is a player that often straddles the line when it comes to his physicality, with the slightest of mistakes costing him big time.
The Les Kiss DNA was on show early as the Wallabies weren’t afraid to throw the ball around early, but need to pick their moments.
It delivered their opener through Harry Potter thanks to a fortuitous bounce off an ambitious Tom Wright cutout ball to Hunter Paisami.
The Aussies have the weapons to make teams pay, but must refine their decision-making after earlier watching Japan counter-attack a Fraser McReight quick tap inside their 22 for a five-pointer.
It continued in the second half after back-to-back scrum penalties was followed by a quick tap that instantly led to a Japan penalty.
Kicking will be the key work-on for next week after struggling to clear their line.
It’s a point Les Kiss made clear during his post-match chat on field, with the Aussies struggling for distance.
The best kick of the night came from Josh Canham, a booming 60 metre effort early in the game.
There were two moments where the Wallabies put it out on the full, first from a kick-off at 14-all and another after an early second half try that led to Japanese points.
On the flip side, Ryan Lonergan’s goal kicking was superb, nailing several crucial conversions from tough spots.
