Suddenly, a pulse at last. After years in the doldrums, the Wallabies have kicked into gear and are riding a new wave of momentum and confidence as they prepare to face Scotland.
After a tough Rugby Championship, which came off the back of Australian rugby’s darkest hour at last year’s World Cup, consecutive wins to start a rare Grand Slam tour has the Wallabies up and about.
Win at Murrayfield on Sunday and Joe Schmidt’s new-look Wallabies will be on the cusp of something few saw coming as they head to Dublin.
“Well, they’ll beat Scotland. If they don’t beat Scotland that’ll be embarrassing,” Roger Gould, the fullback in the Wallabies’ one and only Grand Slam success in 1984, said.
“I watched the Irish the other day, it’s a different animal there.”
So what gives Gould, a great of Australian rugby who would have played many more Tests than the 25 he earned if it wasn’t for a series of injuries, such confidence?
“I’m just pleased to see them winning,” said Gould, who spent years as a Wallabies selector but lasted only weeks as Eddie Jones' assistant during his first stint with Australia before opting to bail.
“I don’t know if Joe was foxing but there’s been a degree of change in those areas that would probably be swabbing the lot of them.”
In particular, Gould, one of the greatest kickers Australian rugby has produced, believes the penny has dropped about where the Wallabies’ strength lay.
“There’s been a major strategy change,” he said.
“The fact that they changed their turnover ball strategy. It would seem that they embraced a policy of as soon as it’s turned over, move it a minimum of one if not two passes.
“They’ve also reduced their general kicking game right down and I think that has paid dividends because, in all honesty, they’re very poor kickers of the football in general, but they’re a much better running team.
Record scores at Twickenham and the Principality Stadium highlight the confidence the Wallabies are playing with, having crossed the line eight times on the way to last weekend’s 52-20 thrashing of Wales.
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Will Skelton relishing battle against Scotland pack he says is among world's best
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But running the ball on a dry Twickenham track and under the roof in Cardiff is one thing, doing it later in November when the fields get heavier and the sun doesn’t get nearly as high is another.
It’s something former Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore knows all too well, having made his debut start at Murrayfield before bowing out at the venue on a difficult afternoon where his side paid the price for their ill-discipline and recklessness.
“All I remember is pretty much every Test I played up there, it rained the whole week,” Moore said.
“Generally, the Test is wet and you don't have the roof like you do in Cardiff, so you’ve got to be prepared for that. It’s a little bit colder, so you're probably a little bit more uncomfortable.
“They're all the little different things that you've got to get used to, but it's a wonderful crowd and it's something the players will really soak up and take in. It's how the players handle that kind of different environment is always key to the result.”
For Moore, clear thinking and accuracy at the breakdown is vital if the Wallabies want to build on their winning run.
“Typically Scotland compete very hard at the breakdown, so they can turn that breakdown into a real mess,” Moore said.
“They'll know that if they can do that against us, they’ll limit our rhythm and our ability to play footy.
“I think the last couple of weeks we've shown our desire to really play some footy and get on the front foot and start to move the ball a bit, so they'll want to disrupt that, no doubt.”
It’s one thing knowing the threat, it’s another dealing with it.
Until recently, it’s something few Wallabies sides have been able to contend with.
At least they have some big ball-carriers now putting the Wallabies on the front foot.
Indeed, it wasn’t long ago that it was only Taniela Tupou who could power the Wallabies over the gain line. Now, Schmidt has Angus Bell, Will Skelton and Rob Valetini able to cause some damage through the middle, too.
Then there is the new shiny toy in Joseph Sua'ali'i, who is set to be thrust back into the midfield after Samu Kerevi’s three-match ban following his high tackle on Jac Morgan.
Sua'ali'i looms as the make-or-break figure against Scotland.
His tackle technique is far from perfect, while he’s been exposed defensively in his two Tests to date close to his line. That’s what happens when you’re learning on the run.
It worked first-up in London, but the street-smart Scots, whose midfield is set in stone compared to the revolving door at Pennyhill Park, will have had time to study up on the 21-year-old rugby league convert.
It’s bound to have been highlighted by Gregor Townsend, who will surely be directing his skipper Sione Tuipulotu in the direction of 21-year-old Sua'ali'i.
If Scotland can make life difficult for Sua'ali'i, the Wallabies will have few places to turn without the safety net of Kerevi on the bench.
Should that occur, it won’t just make for a dispiriting Sunday but a long final week on tour, and the latest kick in the guts for a nation that wants to believe the Wallabies have turned the corner but has regularly been let down.
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