Australia coach Eddie Jones was bursting with pride after his side's defence put New Zealand under immense pressure and sealed a place in the World Cup final.
The Wallabies took the initiative from the off and, after hitting New Zealand with a sucker punch when the All Blacks could have taken the lead, hardly allowed the tournament favourites a sniff.
It was a performance that ensured Australia became the first nation, never mind first defending champions, ever to appear in consecutive World Cup finals.
"Our defence in the World Cup has been pretty good. We managed to foil their go-forward runners and I am reasonably pleased with the defence," said Jones after the 22-10 victory.
"We played well tonight. Every individual played well, we put the bits and pieces together to beat a very good New Zealand side.
"The guys implemented the gameplan very well, they made adjustments, they made decisions and credit to the players for playing a great game."
Jones has born the brunt of media criticism that grew as the tournament went on, but he always said the Wallabies were moving in the right direction.
With the way his men executed the gameplan, Jones was delighted to see the progress being made is tangible.
"We played well. We have got some space for improvement. Next week we will need to improve," he said.
"We have been really happy with the preparation. I said all along we were moving in the right direction."
Jones also paid tribute to the All Blacks, who will return home to a furore after a second straight World Cup semi-final defeat.
But they are Tri-Nations champions, Bledisloe Cup holders and Jones believes they have set the mark for all other teams over the last six months.
"We have learnt a lot from New Zealand this year," he said.
"New Zealand set the standard for world rugby. They played with width rhythm, tempo.
"The scoreboard this season still reads 2-1. We were good enough tonight, but don't lose sight of the fact that New Zealand have set the standards."
Fly-half Stephen Larkham, who was singled out for praise by Jones for tactical decisions, said: "We identified they might be weak up the middle. We made less errors than in previous weeks and we just want to keep on improving."
Stirling Mortlock enjoyed a storming game before leaving the field with cramps that were down to a lack of game-time following the shoulder surgery that kept him out of the Tri-Nations.
Wallaby prop Ben Darwin, who was stretchered from the field after being caught in a collapsed scrum, has recovered full movement of his limbs but has been taken to a Sydney hospital for precautionary X-rays.
The Wallabies totted up a lengthy injury toll during the game, with Mortlock, Gregan, Sharpe and Brendan Cannon all in the wars.
It was too early for Jones to tell the extent of most of the knocks.