Not even the boos and whistles of a 75,000-strong Paris crowd could wipe the smile off Eddie Jones' face after he posted the first win of his second term as Wallabies coach.
The 35-15 bonus point win over Georgia on Sunday (AEST) was far from perfect but it gave Australia a solid platform from which to mount a credible Rugby World Cup campaign.
"I'm consistently unpopular," Jones joked when asked about the rather hostile reception at Stade de France.
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"I might enjoy a glass of red wine tomorrow. You don't start like that if you're lacking in confidence. We've got a young team and it's another great experience for them. Each game they'll get a little bit better."
At 11th in the world, Georgia are ranked only two spots behind Australia, who were 0-5 in 2023 before the World Cup campaign.
But a potential banana skin fixture was averted by the Wallabies, who started strong with a second minute try to centre Jordan Petaia.
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Most pleasing was a powerful scrum and an assured first start at fullback by man of the match Ben Donaldson, who scored two tries and 25 points.
The negatives?
"I thought the second half was quite poor from Australia," Mat Rogers said on Stan Sport.
"I wanted to see more decisive, better decision making. Unfortunately, I didn't see it… Georgia were dominating field position, they had opportunity to score points and we were lucky that they didn't because they might have got a little bit more excited and they could have really made a game.
"But look, we got away with the win. That's the most important thing.
"It's the youngest squad in the tournament. So obviously there's going to be learning on the job."
The Wallabies next face Fiji in Saint-Etienne on September 18 (AEST), while Georgia have two weeks before playing Portugal in Toulouse.
In other day two matches, Italy thrashed Namibia 52-8 and Ireland trounced Romania 82-8.
The All Blacks also announced that Crusaders loose forward Ethan Blackadder will replace injured winger Emoni Narawa in their squad.
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