The Wallabies may still be able to salvage something from a horror year, but they will need to be patient.
Saturday night's 23-17 triumph over South Africa still featured a disastrous lineout and plenty of errors, but improvements in defence - particularly their one-on-one tackling - and greater direction in attack saw them outlast the Springboks on a heavy Brisbane deck.
Michael Cheika's side was its own worst enemy on countless occasions, much of it born out of the anxiety created by six consecutive defeats, as poor decision-making and pushed passes made the scoreline a lot tighter than it probably should have been.
That fact was highlighted by the two tries Australia did manage to score, and the extended build-up which first saw Adam Coleman touch down in the corner in the first half and then Bernard Foley back himself, step, roll and stretch to follow suit after the break.
But there was too little of it, particularly while the Springboks were down to 14 men early in the second stanza.
Fortunately for the Australians, they wouldn't end up ruing some cheap turnover ball either.
Their breakdown work was sloppy, at best, for much of the first half while a Foley pass intercepted by Springboks skipper Adriaan Strauss must have had Wallabies fans reaching for the cold washer when Johan Goosen finished off the long-range effort to open up an early 14-3 lead.
It was then the Wallabies called on the mixture of experience and new blood that, should they struggle to notch too many further wins for the remainder of the Rugby Championship and then the spring tour, they will still be able to drop into the positives' column for season 2016.
After an overly-aggressive run-on debut in Wellington, lock Coleman delivered a more measured but equally rugged performance in tight, even picking himself up following a nasty head clash to make a key second-effort tackle late on.
Winger Reece Hodge showed similar determination despite a lack of open space, and did a fine job defending at inside centre with Foley positioned on the wing. That Hodge has taken on the responsibility of line kicks should not be overlooked either.
And then there was Samu Kerevi, whose match-high 111 metres, four clean breaks and three broken tackles will have cemented his place at outside centre and put to bed the calls for Israel Folau's move to the frontline; not that the fullback's sublime game under the Springboks' aerial assault won't have done the same.
Kerevi, like Coleman, is raw but in time the simple switch of hand that cost him a five-pointer will become second nature.
On the experienced side of the ledger, Will Genia continues to deliver. From a classic covering tackle inside the opening minutes to his sharp service and greatly improved box kick, the veteran No. 9 has quickly become the Wallabies' most important player.
Quade Cooper is a much better player with Genia inside him, and the Wallabies pack a far more cohesive unit when the Queenslander is shouting orders behind them. Australian fans will be hoping he doesn't receive a similar order to Adam Ashley-Cooper and is forced to return to France.
But in celebrating this win, their first since October last year, the Wallabies will know just how much work they have in front of them. And when it comes to the lineout, they may even require some sort of voodoo witch doctor such is the shambles the key set-piece has become.
Officially, the Wallabies only lost one ball on their own throw on Saturday night. But there were cases of pure comedy when Australian jumpers, unexpectedly, received the ball while Genia was also forced to mop up on more than one occasion.
The Cooper-Foley combination also needs work with the latter still adjusting to his fly-half's helter-skelter frame-of-mind, and just how he can provide the direction to Cooper's creativity - a source of entertainment that was captured in a first-half flick pass that put Kerevi away.
Given by what they showed in Hamilton earlier Saturday night, the Pumas will represent a much greater challenge for the Wallabies in seven days' time.
The message for Australia should be reasonably simple though, all you need is a little patience - in both approach and personnel.