Australia made an early World Cup exit but all is not lost, writes  Greg Growden.

The highs

1. The discovery of a legitimate five-eighth replacement for the retiring Stephen Larkham. Berrick Barnes was the real find of the tournament, giving the best solo Wallabies World Cup performance when, with a day's notice, he excelled against Wales in Cardiff. Maybe Larkham would have been an important asset against England in the quarter-final, but Barnes did not lose his team the game. The problems were elsewhere.

2. The ability of fullback Chris Latham to overcome his knee problem to again perform with poise during the tournament. Latham is a class act, and even though he didn't get many opportunities during the World Cup, he still showed he is as good as any fullback in world rugby.

3. Lote Tuqiri again scoring a try. Whether it will get those at the ARU who aren't big Tuqiri fans off his back is debatable, but after a long drought, he reminded us he knows where the try line is.

4. The Wallabies' good humour and co-operation with the media. The international press couldn't complain about Wallabies players being uncommunicative. Surrounded by cameras and tape recorders, most players wooed the media with their humour and honesty.

5. The All Blacks proving they are even bigger chokers than the Wallabies.

The lows

1. That dreadful quarter-final performance. Did the Wallabies actually have a game plan? Where was the direction? It couldn't entirely be the players' fault.

2. Claims that the Wallabies pack had improved markedly during the Connolly era were made to look ridiculous when England smashed them.

3. Larkham and George Gregan's Test careers coming to a dreadful end. In Marseilles, a helpless Larkham had to watch from the sideline, knowing his international days were over, while Gregan failed to make an impact on the field.

4. How so many back-up players failed to make any impact in their final foray against Canada. Most bombed their chance of sneaking into the starting XV. This again emphasised that there are about only 22-24 reasonable Test players in Australia, and then the standards fall right away.

5. The team was shackled by injury, losing Larkham, Mark Gerrard, Scott Staniforth and David Lyons, while Stirling Mortlock, struggling with a shoulder injury, took the field against England not 100 per cent fit.

The solutions

1. Try to find some front-rowers who can hold up a scrum, but more importantly, be a force in the pressure games. Give Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and Reds prop Rodney Blake more of a go. And Polota-Nau should have been picked for this World Cup. Keep working away at this problem area, because Australian rugby will go nowhere until the Wallabies' scrum is fixed.

2. Now Gregan is gone, find a young halfback who can get this team back on track.

3. Stop picking dinosaurs and start being more adventurous at the selection table. And stop picking players carrying injuries.

4. Improve the Wallabies coaching structure. The head coach must not just be an overseer but should have a far more hands-on role with the team. It is fine to have plenty of assistants who do the bulk of the work, but the head coach must be more than an occasional conductor.

5. Have more faith in youth, and bring players such as Kurtley Beale and Lachlan Turner into the squad.

6. Somehow improve the general skills of players who consistently get flustered under pressure.

7. If that doesn't work, just think up more New Zealand choker jokes.