If the Wallabies are looking for a blueprint to take on the British and Irish Lions in the second Test in Melbourne on Saturday night, they could do worse than embracing the spirit of their First Nations-Pasifika [FNP] colleagues who produced the standout performance from an Australian team on the tour thus far.
"You need to take it to them, head on," FNP captain Kurtley Beale told reporters following his side's 24-19 defeat by the visitors. "I think there were patches there when we had the momentum and the Lions were taking a backfoot step and it created opportunities for us.
"The boys, they love the physicality, and in rugby, you need physicality for the backs to play off."
Physicality was something the Wallabies lacked severely during the first Test in Brisbane, which allowed the Lions to skip out to a 17-5 lead, a position from which they were never headed.
But led by Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Charlie Gamble and even the wayward Taniela Tupou, the FNP team recovered from an early 14-0 deficit to push the Lions right to the final buzzer at Marvel Stadium on Tuesday night.
Salakaia-Loto, in particular, was superb. The Queensland lock had a touch of the red mist before kick-off when he told Stan Sport's Michael Hooper, "I'm looking to do it for a fourth time", a sign that he wanted to send yet another message to Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt after he was left out of the wider Test squad to face the Lions.
Eighty minutes later, Salakaia-Loto had done just that. The Queenslander now with two mightily impressive performances against the Lions, three in total, after he was the standout performer in the disappointing AUNZ Invitational lineup from 10 days ago.
Salakaia-Loto's 10 runs for 18 metres were only bettered by Lions back-rower Josh van der Flier, while his 11 tackles were second only for the FNP side by the tireless Gamble.
At one stage, Salakaia-Loto could be seen mouthing "who's next" as he attempted to whack whatever unfortunate Lions ball-carrier came his way.
"Lukhan's been outstanding all throughout the whole week, around that mindset, he drove that for us the whole week," FNP coach Toutai Kefu said post-match. "And his performance was, I thought, outstanding again."
Asked whether he though Schmidt should recall Salakaia-Loto, Kefu added: "Lukhan's thrown his hand up, I thought the last two games he's played have been pretty good, definitely I would look at investing in him and bringing him into the squad."
Tupou, meanwhile, enjoyed his best night for some time, as he combined set-piece dominance with several strong carries, particularly in the build-up to Seru Uru's first-half try.
He did however still concede two penalties, though one of which was down to overeagerness in defence, which isn't exactly the worst thing, that attitude to get up and nail a ball-carrier before the line has been sorely missing from the front-rower's game this season.
"Taniela is a work-in-progress. I thought his set-piece was world class, when he's on song there's probably not many better," Kefu said. "If we can just get him aligned and he's had a stop-start go with injuries and that, and he's played two games now against the Lions, one for the Waratahs and one for us, I think if he can stay on track there's a pathway back to that Wallaby No. 3 I think.
"If I was Joe Schmidt, yeah, I would [bring him in]. I think there's a role for him. I'm not sure; maybe off the bench or maybe to start the game and then come off."
Gamble, meanwhile, was a worthy man-of-the-match, an award he could have easily won following the Lions-Waratahs game earlier in the month, an honour that went to the visitors' scrum-half Alex Mitchell.
But there was no doubting Gamble's impact on Tuesday night's game as he again disrupted the Lions' breakdown and made a perfect 18 of 18 tackles.
"Outstanding, I thought he was fantastic. He drove that defensive kind of area for us all week, I think he led the way there," Kefu said of Gamble.
While Gamble's path to the Wallabies is blocked by Fraser McReight and Carlo Tizzano, his performances against the Lions have surely rocketed him into contention should either of those players be cut down by injury throughout the Test season.
"It's a hard one, the two players above him are pretty good," Kefu added on Gamble. "I'm a big fan of Tizzano, he came off the bench and did well in the first Test, and McReight is probably more of a footballer than both of them. So it depends on what you're looking for I s'pose, but if Charlie played he wouldn't let you down."
Where the AUNZ Invitational team looked all at sea in their 48-0 drubbing in Adelaide, the FNP team kept things simple, focused on the "connection piece" and then built their game plan on physicality.
How they took the fight up to the Lions, and also swarmed in when there was an early scrap between Gamble and Scotland winger Darcy Graham, must be embraced by the Wallabies if they are to turn the tables in Melbourne, while Beale urged Rugby Australia administrators to consider more fixtures for the FNP team in the future.
"This is a fantastic concept that needs to continue, it needs to continue, whether that's a warm-up game for the Wallabies in years to come or building up [to a series], a game against the Maori All Blacks, whatever it is," Beale said.
"I think bigger picture and it's definitely needed in our game."