Australia continued their fine run of form after beating Japan 32-23 on Saturday to collect a fifth straight win, though coach Dave Rennie knows his side are far from the finished article.
The Wallabies ran in five tries to beat their hosts in Oita—the scene of their 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit to England —but were left biting their nails until the closing minutes.
Tom Wright and Jordan Petaia each crossed the line before half-time, while Taniela Tupou, Rob Leota and Connal McInerney also got on the score sheet as Quade Cooper kicked seven points.
Lomano Lemeki and Ryoto Nakamura secured tries for Japan either side of half-time, and the hosts added another 13 points from the tee in what was a poorly disciplined display from their guests.
“A little bit rusty. Fairly frustrating,” Rennie told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“We played a lot of good footy, but we just didn’t kick the ball enough.
“There was a lot of space where we could apply pressure. We tended to overplay.
“We got some good go-forward, almost got sucked into going more phases when they had no cover in the backfield, so that was disappointing and we ended up putting ourselves under pressure.”
Saturday's result marks the first time the Wallabies have won five straight games since their build-up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, not to mention the first time they've reached that figure in a non-World Cup year since 2008.
Rennie recently led his team to second in the Rugby Championship after securing back-to-back victories over South Africa, but New Zealand great-turned-commentator Andrew Mehrtens called Saturday's showing "a backwards step."
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The team will hope to regain top form in the northern hemisphere as they embark on an end-of-year tour that will pit them against Scotland, England and Wales over the next month.
And star fly-half Cooper looks set to be a part of that trip after Rennie gave an approving "yes" when asked after the match if the 33-year-old would travel with the rest of the squad on Sunday.
Rugby Australia have been in talks with Cooper's Japanese club, Kintetsu Liners, in the hopes of reaching a peaceful resolution regarding his availability.
The veteran has helped transform the Wallabies' fortunes since ending his four-year international exile in September, and his inclusion will be a major boost ahead of their European expedition.
Rennie has a new conundrum on his hands, however, after Reece Hodge was withdrawn just 13 minutes into Saturday's clash due to a pectoral injury.
The team is now waiting on scan results to asses his chances, and although the utility back will travel with the squad on Sunday, there's no guarantee he'll face Scotland (Nov. 7), England (Nov. 13) or Wales (Nov. 20).
"The plan is that he'll travel," Rennie added.
"We've still got a couple of weeks until we play Scotland so that will buy us some time to get clarity around what we do if it's (a) long-term (injury).
"We'll assess that in coming days."
