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Honourable losses do not count for much in Test rugby, so the Wallabies should be ruing the opportunity they wasted to put the All Blacks to the sword in the second Bledisloe Cup Test.
While they may gain confidence from having the All Blacks on the ropes, they did cough up a 14-point lead before going down 23-20 in Dunedin to maintain their winless record this year.
Ahead of the Rugby World Cup beginning in France next month, here are five takeaways from the Wallabies' defeat to the All Blacks.
1. Wallabies need to play the full 80
The Wallabies were taught holding a 17-3 half-time lead means nothing if you cannot finish the job in the second 40 minutes.
The visitors deserved their scoreboard buffer at the break, as they were the better team in the first half.
They nailed the basics in attack — especially at the breakdown — and were rewarded with two tries, while their defence held firm to restrict the All Blacks to a solitary penalty goal.
But rather than consolidate their advantage, the Wallabies allowed the All Blacks to seize control early in the second half.
The hosts capitalised when Shaun Stevenson crossed for a converted try in the 43rd minute, contributing to a run of 17 unanswered points as they assumed a 20-17 lead.
Penalty goals were traded in the final eight minutes, with Richie Mo'unga's clutch display — with less than 60 seconds on the clock — enough to get the All Blacks over the line and deny the Wallabies their first win over their trans-Tasman rivals on New Zealand soil since 2001.
Test matches are never won at half-time and the Wallabies only have themselves to blame for not producing an 80-minute performance.
2. Discipline still an issue for Wallabies
The Wallabies' control of the match in the first half was not just reflected on the scoreboard, but also by the fact they conceded fewer penalties than the All Blacks, who gave away seven to four.
But that ledger turned on its head in the second term, with the Wallabies eventually topping the penalty count for the match, 13-10.
The final penalty given away by the Wallabies resulted in Mo'unga's long-range effort that sealed the All Blacks' win.
Poor discipline was a hallmark of the Wallabies' performances under former coach Dave Rennie, but seemingly little has improved with Eddie Jones now in charge.
They gave away more penalties than their opposition in their opening two Tests this year — against the Springboks and Pumas – and had yielded five yellow cards heading into the Dunedin clash.
While the Wallabies ensured they kept 15 players on the park for the entire match on Saturday, they were made to pay by giving away penalties that resulted in the All Blacks enjoying field position and clawing their way back on the scoreboard.
Discipline will be crucial at the Rugby World Cup and the Wallabies cannot afford to give their opposition a leg-up.
3. All Blacks show value of bench
Finishers, closers, bomb squad … call them what you like, but the depth of a team's reserves bench is critical at the Test level.
The All Blacks illustrated this point in the second half of their convincing 38-7 victory over the Wallabies at the MCG last weekend when their reserves came on to ice the six tries-to-one result.
Having chosen to make changes to their victorious starting XV, the All Blacks had the luxury of calling upon the likes of Mo'unga and Aaron Smith as cavalry in the second half in Dunedin and the subs made their impact.
The Wallabies do not enjoy the depth of talent that the All Blacks do, and this was evident when Jones went to his bench in the second 40.
Test rugby is a 23-player commitment and the teams with the strongest benches will be those that go deep at the Rugby World Cup.
4. McDermott shines as skipper
A positive the Wallabies can take away from their loss was Tate McDermott's showing as captain.
His decision-making was sound in the first half and he led with confidence prior to being replaced by Nic White in the 64th minute.
While it shocked some when McDermott was overlooked by Jones for a training squad earlier this year, the move appeared to be a ploy to make the 24-year-old know he had to earn his Wallabies jersey and past performances were going to mean little.
McDermott sets the bar high when it comes to standards, as he showed when he labelled the Wallabies "pretty soft" following their 38-21 Bledisloe Cup defeat to the All Blacks in Perth two years ago.
The Wallabies have been led by some outstanding halfbacks, with Nick Farr-Jones, Ken Catchpole, George Gregan and John Hipwell having held the captaincy on a long-term basis during their storied careers.
Time will tell whether McDermott joins their ranks as the first-choice skipper, but he has shown he has the potential to carry out the role with distinction.
5. Jones will be crucial in France
In the wake of last weekend's thrashing in Melbourne, it should not surprise those who have charted Jones's coaching career that the Wallabies put themselves in contention to win the return bout in Dunedin.
In rugby history, there have been few better match-day coaches than Jones, who has displayed his strategic and tactical nous at the Test level with stunning results.
The Wallabies' defeat of the All Blacks in the 2003 World Cup semifinals comes to mind, as does Japan's upset of South Africa at the 2015 tournament.
In both matches, the Jones-coached side was not expected to win, but there was no fluke about the final result as he expertly identified and exploited the opposition's weaknesses.
An often-forgotten example on the domestic scene — but just as telling — was during his brief reign as Queensland coach, when he guided the Reds to a 39-17 triumph over a highly rated NSW outfit in the 2006 Australian Provincial Championship.
The Wallabies may have fallen short against the All Blacks, but Jones showed they can be competitive.
His squad should make it out of the pool stage and through to the quarterfinals at the World Cup, and he knows better than anyone that knockout rugby is a different beast.
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