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Wallabies captain James Horwill reaffirmed his side’s goal to become the world’s best team next year after they ended 2011 with a 24-18 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
The win gave Australia, the reigning Tri Nations champions, a Test record for the calendar year of played 13, won nine and lost four.
But the Wallabies remain second in the global rankings behind world champions New Zealand, having been beaten 20-6 by the All Blacks in the semi-finals of the World Cup in October.
“There have been ups and the low points throughout the year,” said Horwill. “Obviously, the Tri Nations was a big step for us and working our way out of games we previously wouldn’t have got through.
“But on the other side of that are the games we did let slip and where we should have put in a better result.
“We need to develop that over the next 12 months to become the number one team in the world and that’s our goal.
“New Zealand have that mantle at the moment, and rightly so, because they are very good and very consistent across the board.
“We need to become more consistent with a couple of things, but I’m happy with the year we’ve had and the boys thoroughly deserve the six weeks they are about to get off.”
Australia coach Robbie Deans, whose team beat Wales 21-18 to finish third at the World Cup, said: “Obviously, the World Cup was the focal point and we, like Wales, left there frustrated — we hadn’t achieved what we’d aspired to.
“But within that, there’s been some good work done.
“We picked up the Tri Nations (title) which we haven’t had for a decade and I think we are starting to produce some consistency. We picked up a couple of results under adversity and tonight (Saturday) was another one in a context that was challenging.
“The boys got up and got the job done.”
Australia, in what was Wales wing Shane Williams’s final international before his Test retirement, were 6-3 down at half-time.
But they silenced a crowd of more than 61,000 with three converted tries after Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny was sent to the sin-bin in the 49th minute by South African referee Jonathan Kaplan for tackling James O’Connor, impressive in his first Test start at fly-half, without the ball.
“I am delighted with the effort, we were made to work for it,” said Deans.
“We were a bit impatient in the first half but we adapted better in the second and we were able to bring some pressure to bear and score some points,” said Deans after backs Will Genia, Lachie Turner and Berrick Barnes scored tries which were all converted by O’Connor.
But it was Williams, in extra-time, who had the last word when, after a trademark jinking run and sidestep, he extended his Welsh record haul to 58 tries in 87 Tests.
“He is a once-in-a-generation player,” said Deans.
“He deserves every acknowledgement going. ”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.