WALLABIES coach Robbie Deans met one of his heroes, Dennis Lillee, savoured a first-up Tri Nations victory, and quietly knows that the cogs of his team are running smoothly. However, the big All Blacks shadow looms.

After the euphoria of the Wallabies beating the World Cup champions at Subiaco Oval on Saturday night, which culminated in an unexpected visit by the former Test bowler to the dressing rooms and excited photos with the coach, reality hit yesterday.

Deans had been up most of the night, channel surfing between the England-South Africa Test cricket, British Open golf and a replay of the Wallabies Test. Then, when he began to nod off, Deans would be awoken by another text message sent from some smart alec the other side of the Tasman.

Yesterday the media was interested in only two things ahead of Saturday's Bledisloe Cup Test at ANZ Stadium - can a New Zealander inspire an Australian victory over his home country, and what exactly can he do to counter a player he knows so well - Daniel Carter?

Deans handled it all with the stoic defence of a Boycott and the solid putting style of a Norman. This week he will be asked, and he will give little. He knows anything he says will be pounced upon the other side of the Tasman.

But he still could not conceal the excitement of what is coming up. Asked if he would experience conflicting emotions in the lead-up to the first Bledisloe Cup match, the long-time Crusaders coach said: "You go through emotions day by day. That's living. It will be a new experience, which will be fantastic."

The obvious query was whether either party would benefit from the knowledge they had of each other.

"You also have to ask how much of that is relevant," Deans said. "Life moves on, but it is quite remarkable how the game just keeps moving, and how people keep moving in terms of their own game.

"I do know them from a couple of months ago. It feels quite longer now. It is a different context, different group, different methods, and they'll also be very aware of what I know of them. And they'll be aware that I'm aware of what they know of me. You also know they're looking at you.

"So you can second guess each other. And that's the game week by week - analysing your opponent. However, sometimes what you encounter is the total opposite of what you calculated. That's part of the intrigue. Ultimately, you hang your head onto something with a plan you think will work in the battle. But it's not until you're in the battle that you learn what your plan's like."

He veered away from discussing Carter. "It won't be me [who will have to handle him]," Deans said.

"It's a team game, and Dan Carter's such a player that if you go out with a plan simply for him, you'll never get to him. It will be the others who will kill you off."

He was asked again, prompting an immediate: "I think you've heard my point."

Deans was laughing, but it was time to move on.

He was more eager to discuss what had occurred the previous night, and with fair reason. There was a strong sense of pride that the Wallabies' precise game plan had succeeded in cutting South Africa in midfield and infuriating them at the breakdown. The Springboks made the fatal mistake of restricting their numbers at the breakdown, and the Wallabies, through the excellent work of their back-rowers Wycliff Palu, George Smith and Rocky Elsom, completely dominated that area.

The Springboks predictably moaned about the breakdown later, with their coach, Peter de Villiers, complaining they were unfairly dealt with at the breakdown, and that the Wallabies were guilty of killing the ball.

That wasn't why the Springboks lost the match. Rather, it was because their tactic of stacking their attack with large forwards failed, especially as the Wallabies' midfield defence of Matt Giteau, Berrick Barnes and Stirling Mortlock succeeded in cutting them at the ankles over and over. Just as importantly, the Wallabies' scrum held up, even having the confidence to take the set-piece from a free kick, resulting in Mortlock's 44th-minute try. That was a vital, possibly defining moment in the evolution of a much maligned Wallabies pack.