I showed an American mate a clip of Radike Samo's utterly fabulous try against the All Blacks. 

"Who is this guy," he asks as 35-year old Samo swats Adam Thomson and breaks the line. "Go, go ... GO! YES!!!!" 

A dedicated NFL fan, he'd never seen a full rugby game before but he squealed like the rest of us. 

Sure, the cutaway to the two fans celebrating in black faces gave him pause, but rugby has another convert -- a commitment reinforced when he was forced to watch the Jets outbore the Giants in an NFL pre-season hit-out. 

But not in this great Test match. Samo's try was icing on the crunchy munchy honey cakes, as the two best sides in the world played rugby as it should be played (and officiated, thanks to an Englishman, of all people, Wayne Barnes). 

The Wallabies clobbered New Zealand in the first 40 minutes with a rare display of commitment and precision while the All Blacks' comeback in the second term at Suncorp  -- a hell of a place for a visiting team -- was additional proof that they are worthy of hot favouritism going into the World Cup on home soil. 

Let's give credit to Wallabies coach Robbie Deans. He clearly decided to tweak the usual Australian game plan in this Tri-Nations decider and it stunned the New Zealanders. 

The Kiwis would have been expecting the Australians to keep their commitment to the breakdown minimal in order to spread their defence wide and smother the potent AB's attack. 

Instead, the Wallabies piled into the rucks in vast numbers, Dan Vickerman leading the way in a performance that, if justice is served, should make a it a lot easier for South African-born rugby players to emigrate to Australia. 

By slowing the All Blacks' ball and ensuring their own quality possession, the Wallabies were always on the front foot -- until the New Zealanders cottoned on to it in the second half and amended their play accordingly. 

Will Genia was brilliant but, it needs to be said, he was playing behind an uncommonly abrasive Australian pack, making life so much easier for the scrumhalf. Samo was an important part of this transformation and it's hard to argue against him being named the Wallabies starting No. 8 when they play their first World Cup match against Italy on September 11. 

He won't last a full game, but if you've got Wycliff Palu coming on as his replacement  the Wallabies have a one-two punch meaningful enough to flatten concerns -- raised frequently by this hack -- about their weakness around the contact zone. 

With Vickerman back on board and Tatafu Polota-Nau waiting in the wings, there are suddenly some very imposing creatures smashing around in tight for the Wallabies. 

In the rundown to the World Cup, there will be discussions about whether James (the dog ate my alarm clock) O'Connor should be accommodated in the backline and supporters of Berrick Barnes will be advocating his inclusion, but for the moment, none of that matters. 

The Wallabies cured their major ill to score the morale-boosting win over the All Blacks in Brisbane. If the forwards continue to play like that, they could start Matt Dunning in the backline and still win. 

All right, maybe not, especially if he starts trying to pot drop goals. The point is they have oodles of talent in the backline, and while that alone won't win them the World Cup, in combination with a go-forward pack, they are odds-on to match around all-comers. 

In the next week, on BackPageLead, I'll take a look at Australia's World Cup pool opponents and the biggest threats to the Wallabies in the competition. I'll speculate on how the fine template they constructed for victory last Saturday will have to be amended ever so slightly depending on the opposition (and the referee).