A new day has dawned for the Wallabies with new coach Les Kiss acknowledging "a foundation [is] set" but "there is work to be done" as he prepares for the upcoming two Test series against Japan and the short runway to next year's home Rugby World Cup.
It's been a long time coming for the incumbent coach after he was named Joe Schmidt's successor 16 months ago.
In a long handover period that has been heavily questioned, the former Kangaroos rugby league national observed from the sidelines, watching as a "fly on the wall" through last year's disastrous end of year tour, and finished off his contract at the Queensland Reds before he officially joined the group following the side's three Test Nations Championship July series.
Naming his first squad of 34, Kiss went for consistency and continuity, making just a few forced changes through injury including the return of Isaac Kailea for James Slipper -- who takes a break over the two Test series -- the return of Hunter Paisami and elevation of Isaac Henry in his first national squad with Len Ikitau ruled out following minor ankle surgery, while Carter Gordon bolsters the group in his return from a calf strain.
Nick Champion De Crespigny has failed to find a place in the 34 less than a year after captaining the group over Japan, alongside Corey Toole, while ESPN asked Kiss if he would be experimenting with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii's positioning.
"I will be persisting with 13 with him at this stage, but I know that he can go to 15 and wing and that's important to acknowledge as well," Kiss said.
The headline news, but perhaps the most unsurprising move from Kiss, was the return of Schmidt's unwanted man Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.
The towering lock found himself on the outer with the previous Wallabies coach, a questionable omission for last year's British and Irish Lions tour, he returned for the side's scrappy win over Japan in Tokyo and was used sparingly in Europe on their winless end of year tour.
Despite another strong season for the Reds where he was named in the Super Rugby Pacific Team of the Year, he was cast aside once again by Schmidt for the opening three Tests of the Nations Championship series -- where the Wallabies would lose to Ireland and France, before hammering Italy in Perth.
Kiss's move to bring the 29-year-old straight into the squad was unsurprising given he was his man and one of his strongest assets at the Reds but shows he's keen to put his own fingerprints on a squad that otherwise remains unchanged from what had been seen under Schmidt.
"I've talked about evolution, not revolution," Kiss told reporters in Sydney at his first squad announcement. "I've talked about making sure we keep something really consistent.
"As you can see, there's not massive change. I wanted to make sure that most of those players were involved, get a good side of myself and the new coaches and how the new coaching team will work.
"There was a couple of focuses; deepening in a couple of areas, getting that tight-headed lock really locked away, loose heads, see what's available in that space.
"I want to keep consistent in certain areas of our nines and 10s, and in particular, keeping some consistency there. Largely, the group's pretty much the same, and I think it's only right that they get a feel for us first.
"I will be exploring other options as we go along, and I'll be making sure that's clear to players that we're trying to do there."
The inconsistency in halves was one of the biggest pitfalls in the Schmidt era as he was forced to turn to nine fly-halves over the last 12 months through injury, while there were also repeated changes at halfback as well.
Gordon's return for the upcoming series is a massive boon for Kiss, especially as the two worked together in Brisbane, while the expected return of Tom Lynagh -- another Reds playmaker -- later in the year will bring plenty of questions of who he will turn to.
The recent elevation of Ryan Lonergan to the starting scrumhalf role and his impressive form also brings with it selection questions for Kiss and whether he retains the Brumbies No. 9 or turns to his own man in Tate McDermott to start in Osaka on Saturday August 8.
While Kiss, and new assistants Jon Fisher and Scott McLeod, have stuck to consistency for now, the former Reds coach said he will be bringing a point of difference to the group.
"There will be change," he said. "I'm a different personality in some ways to Joe's leadership. There will be certain ways that I'll operate that'll be certainly different. How that manifests, we'll find out."
Before any team selections are made though, Kiss has acknowledged there will need to be a lot of work done to elevate through group from their current No. 8 world ranking to be true contenders for the World Cup crown in 13 months' time.
"I'm an optimist, but I'm a realist as well," Kiss said. "I do believe that these players want more and they're prepared to work hard for it.
"I've really enjoyed what I've seen. There are guys with an appetite to work hard, there's guys there with an appetite to get better and improve. That gives me a lot of confidence in what I believe about the players we have.
"We want to win every game we go into. There is work to be done. And what I've seen in the last two or three weeks, and the times that I've been in the camps over the last two years, I believe that there's more in us, and I truly believe the players think there's more in them. There's been a foundation set."
Asked how he wants his Wallabies to play:
"I think there is an Aussie spirit that comes through in our game, when you're kids, you just play what's in front of you. You're free of all the things that can get in the way. I want to make sure we coach at the right level and unleash what we're good at.
"We're a good, innovative type of thinking player and team. Let's play with our spirit.
"We're combative. We will go very hard into contact; we'll fight for every inch. We just want those qualities to come through.
"We want the country to be proud of what they see. When they're on the try line, they'll defend it with their life. And we've seen good clues to date with that, we just want to make sure we can do our bit as a new coaching team to enhance that as much as possible, give them every chance to live their dreams and blaze their own trail."
Kiss also recounted how he transitioned from a rugby league player to rugby coach. Working with the now defunct Northern Eagles NRL club he spent time with then-Springboks coach Harry Viljoen, who was observing training. He was offered a job as a defence coach in South Africa, before he returned to Australia 18 months later and met Eddie Jones.
The 61-year-old acknowledged he's been in rugby longer than he had been in rugby league, coaching in the highest levels around the world for more than 25 years with stints as a defence coach then as head coach with Ulster, London Irish, and Queensland.
"I think it's been a bit of a gift for me. I learnt rugby through the eyes of the Springboks really, through South African rugby and a very heavy attrition game, 10-man rugby, all those things, but learning the game through that was a gift.
"When I came back to Australia about two years later, I had a meeting with Eddie [Jones], [the] next day I had a meeting with Bob Dwyer and suddenly I'm with the Waratahs and immersed myself in Australian rugby."
But it will be in two weeks' time when he leads the Wallabies against Jones's Japan that will bring about a full-circle moment.
"He's a sly operator, Eddie, and we'll be all prepared for any mind games and all those sorts of things," Kiss said.
"He's a savvy coach, he's a good coach, and we know that. And he does have an impact on that Japanese psyche. So, we have to be ready for that."