Even 14 points up at halftime, wily Wallabies coach Eddie Jones admits he never felt safe from an All Blacks comeback.
Outplayed 38-7 seven days earlier at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia seemed to have turned the tables on their trans-Tasman rivals at Dunedin, powering to two early tries and leading 17-3 at the break.
To many, it seemed the Aussies were well on the way to their first victory in Jones' second tenure at the helm - but the master coach knew better.
"I don't think you ever have them," he admitted, after watching his team fold over the final 40 minutes, eventually losing 23-20, with Richie Mo'unga converting a penalty goal in the dying seconds.
"In one game we've had them in my whole career."
Jones, 63, has probably enjoyed as much success against the All Blacks as any coach over years, which is to say not that much. In charge of Australia twice, Japan and England, he boasts a 6-10 record, with one draw.
He opened his international coaching career with a 23-15 victory, ironically, at Dunedin in 2001 and has ousted New Zealand from two World Cup semi-finals - 2003 with Australia (22-10) and 2019 with England (19-7).
Those two semis are the only two times Jones has enjoyed double-figure margins over the men in black.
"All the time, you know it's going to go down to the wire. You know it's going to be a battle - they don't give up and that's the great thing about New Zealand rugby.
"As much as I hate New Zealand rugby, I have great admiration for the way they keep playing and keep doing things they're good at. They stay hard in the contest, they keep going.
"For us, we don't want to forget that feeling today - that's a really important feeling we had today. We've got a devastated group of men in there, but if we learn from it, it will be the most potent lesson... more than a PhD at Otago University."
While dismayed at letting another winning chance slip through his fingers, Jones is encouraged by the progress shown by his young team, led by halfback Tate McDermott for the first time.
"It's a Bledisloe Cup," he reflected. "Having been on the other side and winning the last minute, you understand the emotion of it and the need to be good when you're under the most pressure.
"We just don't, at the moment, have the capacity, but we're building to it.
"I thought the first 40 minutes were very good, New Zealand's first 30 in the second half were equally as good and there's one upright in the game.
"There's a lot to be positive about, but we realise there's also a lot of hard work to do."
The "one upright" is a reference to the first-half penalty attempt from first-five Carter Gordon that struck the post and stayed out. That would prove the difference between the two sides.
Jones insists he has concentrated on attack during the Rugby Championship/Bledisloe Cup campaign, but was heartened by his team's defensive performance, especially during the first half.
"There's good parts, there's bad parts and there's ugly parts," he said. "In the second half, our scrum got ugly, but we're down to our fourth or fifth-choice tighthead, still learning his trade."
After losing props Allan Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou last week, the Wallabies saw Pone Fa'amausili suffer a neck injury, as their front-row stocks thinned.
"We're definitely moving in the right direction, but we've got to win games, mate," admitted Jones.
"The big difference between the two teams tonight - and has been - was that New Zealand's work off the ball was better than ours and that's where we need to improve.
"Our work on the ball was pretty good tonight, as it was last week, so if we can improve our work off the ball, which is one of the easiest things to improve... we will be a hell of a team."
One player to enhance his reputation was flanker Tom Hooper, who powered through three tacklers to score the second try.
"He' a young guy at the start of his career," said Jones. "He's got the capacity to play seven, but is probably a better six.
"He's still only got half a body, mate. We're still trying to find the other half of his body, so when he's a full body, he will be some sort of monster.
"We're looking for it. If you find half a body wandering around somewhere, bring it back to our dressingroom."
