The brilliance of Ardie Savea. A dominant scrum. The trusty boot of Richie Mo'unga.
For everything the Wallabies did well in Dunedin on Saturday afternoon, they still could not find a way to down the All Blacks after the hosts' stirring second-half comeback secured a dramatic 23-20 victory at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Had it not been for Savea, the All Blacks may well have been gone at halftime, after the back-rower produced a magnificent defensive play to deny Tate McDermott what looked like a certain five-pointer.
Had it not been for their scrum, the All Blacks would not have had either of the penalties that set them up field for the tries of Shaun Stevenson and Samipeni Finau, nor the penalty that gave Mo'unga the opportunity to snatch the win.
And had it not been for All Blacks playmaker, who slotted the match-winning penalty one minute from fulltime, the All Blacks were likely headed for the smallest of speedbumps on their road to the World Cup.
As it stands, they are instead four from four in 2023 and unbeaten in 11 Tests overall.
The flight back to Australia will meanwhile be a lonely one for Carter Gordon who, despite nailing two sideline conversions in the first half, could not slot a far simpler penalty goal from just left of the posts that would have taken the Wallabies out to a 20-13 lead midway through the second half.
"It's a Bledisloe Cup and having been on the other side when you win it in the last minute, you understand the emotion of it, and the need for you to be good when you're under the most intense pressure," Wallabies coach Eddie Jones said.
"And we just don't, at the moment, have the capacity to do that, but we're building a capacity to do it. I thought our first 40 minutes were very good, I thought New Zealand's first 30 in the second half was equally as good, and there's one upright in the game.
"Congratulations to New Zealand, but I think we're headed in the right direction... there's a lot for us to be positive about, but we also realise that there is a lot of hard work for us to do."
Gordon's missed penalty, which thudded back off the left upright bang on the hour mark, felt like a massive moment in the context of the match. And so it proved, the momentum shifting as the Wallabies then butchered the lineout transfer once the All Blacks had cleared their line; then, when the Wallabies' scrum was smashed one more, that same pendulum had well and truly swung.
But so much of what Australia did in the first half will give hope to their frustrated fans, and support coach Eddie Jones' claims -- which had been tough to cop following their 38-7 loss in Bledisloe I -- that his team is headed in the right direction.
For the Wallabies have not played a better half of rugby for some time than what they dished up in Dunedin, as they punished the All Blacks' errors, built pressure, and then made it count where it matters - on the scoreboard. Something they were unable to do at the MCG seven days earlier.
From Marika Koroibete's try in just the third minute, which Tom Hooper -- who had another fine game, this time at No. 6 -- backed up just four minutes later, through virtually the entirety of the first half, the Wallabies made the All Blacks look second rate. Sure, this was a New Zealand side missing some serious quality, but Australia's first-half effort perhaps raised a few questions over just how good the All Blacks' depth actually is.
Fly-half Damian McKenzie had a forgettable outing, but he was one of many surprisingly flighty All Blacks players who in the first half who made a multitude of errors and generally made the poorest decisions of their Test season to date.
The Wallabies, meanwhile, mixed power carrying, clever offloads and smart switches of direction, all supported by a ferocious attacking breakdown that ensured scrum-half and skipper McDermott, and fly-half Gordon, received wonderful front-foot ball.
But such was the scope of their dominance, Australia's 14-point halftime lead felt at least one try short. And had it not been for the brilliance of Savea, they absolutely would have had it and therefore made the All Blacks' second-half comeback that little more challenging, by five points at least.
With the Wallabies having marched the All Blacks a few metres from a lineout drive, McDermott ducked to the blindside, getting himself just beyond Sam Whitelock -- who was phenomenal at the breakdown for the All Blacks in the second stanza -- despite the veteran lock doing enough to scraggle the Wallabies No. 9 to ground.
Still, McDermott appeared to have enough momentum to be able to ground the ball to score. That was, at least, until Savea rolled over the top and held him up.
It was an heroic play from an heroic player. If the All Blacks run out onto Stade de France for the World Cup final on October 28, you can guarantee Savea will have played a huge role in getting them there.
You could also guarantee that the All Blacks' second-half comeback was going to come in Dunedin; the only question was whether the Wallabies were going to be good enough to respond. Right from the outset of the second-half New Zealand was a different outfit, their skill execution -- which had been terrible in the first 40 -- was suddenly crisp and the roles were well and truly reversed at the breakdown, now it was New Zealand winning the tackle space.
The scrum, too, proved pivotal, which is not surprising given the casualties Australia suffered in Melbourne. Without both Allan Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou, the Wallabies rode their luck in the first half to earn a couple of scrum penalties and otherwise deliver sound ball on their own feed.
But the departure of Pone Fa'amausili hurt, with Reds youngster Zane Nonggorr unable to stifle the power of Ofa Tu'ungafasi on the tighthead side, despite evidence that the match-winning penalty call from referee Karl Dickson should have instead seen a reset. That may well have been delaying the inevitable, but the Wallabies also appeared to have genuine claims to a breakdown penalty when Savea went off his feet moments before Quade Cooper, who had kicked the Wallabies back level at 20-all from long range, spilt the ball cold.
This Test will feel like a massive missed opportunity for Australia, but Jones will instead point to what they did so well in the first 40 to pick his team up from yet more heartache. Last week it was 30 minutes in Melbourne, on Saturday the Wallabies delivered a resounding first-half performance that also put the scoreboard attendant to work, if not as much as their dominance of possession and territory probably demanded.
But 40 minutes is never going to be enough to beat the All Blacks, nor will it be good enough to see them through to the final two weekends of the World Cup in Paris. On the evidence of what they delivered in the first 40 minutes in Dunedin, they are a semifinal team. On their inability to respond to a charging All Blacks side after halftime, however, they are not.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster, meanwhile, got what he wanted, albeit with far more angst that he probably originally imagined. Foster will have learned a lot about those players who were given an opportunity, and while debutants Stevenson and Finau, who both scored on their Test debuts, got better as the game went on, McKenzie's performance will be cause for concern.
There is no way the Chiefs star will be left at home in New Zealand, but his effort in Dunedin was miles away from that which he produced in Mendoza last month. His 49-minute showing at Forsyth Barr has confirmed that he is a bench option, at best, in New Zealand's first-choice matchday 23.
Will Jordan's switch to fullback will be rated a moderate success, the Crusaders flyer opening up the Wallabies on the counterattack but unable to find the pass that would have delivered a try.
"I'm stoked with the win, clearly we were second best by some distance in the first half, they threw a lot at us, I thought we came back just before halftime, so to come back and to show a lot of composure under that scoreboard pressure and squeeze them, and to win in the last few minutes is a great lesson for this team," All Blacks coach Ian Foster said.
"We've had three good wins this year and to come off a different type of win, and that's what Test matches are about, that's going to hold us in good stead for later on."
For the Wallabies, Fa'amausili, despite concerns over his durability, was solid at scrum time and strong in both attack and defence, with Jones and the rest of the coaching staff likely to sweat on his fitness moving forward, so too that of Tupou who exited last week with a rib cartilage injury.
And Jones certainly has a lot to consider before he names his World Cup squad in Darwin on Thursday night. There is unlikely to be a bolter, but there may well be a shock in the back-row after Fraser McReight and Tom Hooper proved a dynamic duo in Dunedin. Whether 60 minutes of rugby -- McReight was replaced on the hour -- is enough to make a tough call on a half-fit Michael Hooper, remains to be seen. But the injured flanker may well have a couple of sleepless nights on the way.
Matt Faessler, a late inclusion after Jordan Uelese, was also excellent on debut, hitting the mark on all but one lineout throw and getting through work on both sides of the ball otherwise.
Faessler may well even push Dave Porecki for a start in France, though the run-on XV team Jones put out in Dunedin, save for the likes of potentially Tupou, Will Skelton and potentially Len Ikitau, looks to be one worth persisting with.
A good night's sleep won't be an issue for Savea, Mo'unga or any of the All Blacks veterans, meanwhile, after they waved goodbye to their home fans for the final time on Saturday afternoon. Another Bledisloe sweep in the books, with just enough drama to make it that little bit more memorable.
Now for the greatest rugby prize of all.