He was right. The Wallabies played out of their skin and it was the best thing about the Test. Of course the result was a welcome change to the narrative of the slow-starting Wallabies, not to mention hugely reassuring given Australia's continued struggles in Super Rugby this season.

But for the first time since the 2015 World Cup they also looked like a team fuelled by something more important than themselves. Every player in the game's 120-year history here has worn the Wallabies jersey with pride but it has been a long time, particularly in the past decade, since Australian fans have been repaid for their faith with a team that appears to play with cognisance of their privilege and purpose.

This is not to get carried away with the team's prospects in this three-Test series. Ireland coach Joe Schmidt was right when he called the margins "skinny" in Brisbane. It was an arm wrestle at Suncorp Stadium and Melbourne, the site of the second Test on Saturday night, will be no different.

But in the dollar-hungry landscape of professional sport, purpose matters. And what are the Wallabies if they are not an expression of Australian identity, or the sporting manifestation of this country's best traits - and often its worst, too?

At their best, the Wallabies can be Rugby Australia's trump card in this country of too much sport for too few people. Much like the Socceroos for Football Federation Australia, but wholly more competitive on the international stage.

At their worst, or their most mediocre, they make hard work of being a rugby fan. But on Saturday they were as Australian as they come. Punchy, passionate, hard-working and creative. It won't always win them games but if they play like that they will always make their supporters proud.

So credit where it is due. Cheika has worked hard behind the scenes to help his players work out what fuels them beyond a handsome pay cheque or the quest for individual excellence. He has invoked the power and legacy of the gold jersey but made sure it reflects the modern Wallabies. Fijians, Tongans, Samoans, an Aboriginal man, a Papua New Guinean, some country kids and a few city slickers. There's that Taswegian, too, who played so far out of his skin in Brisbane it cost his Tongan-Australian teammate a try.

Their work is bearing fruit, and an unexpectedly large number turned up to watch it all unfold live. RA was forecasting a crowd of 42,000 at best on Friday morning. A rugby-friendly weather forecast sparked strong sales on Friday and Saturday and Suncorp Stadium members turned up in droves to push that figure to 46,273.

Former RA boss John O'Neill famously called the Wallabies' the game's "rainmakers" and on a night like that it rang true. The governing body imbued the pre-match with spectacle and a sense of place, the Irish diaspora pitched up in droves and the teams slogged it out with pride and physicality. It helped too that Origin I was over and the Socceroos were still on the World Cup run-up.

The effect? Within the space of 90 minutes rugby's large latent fan base felt it was safe again to admit they quite enjoy the game. Where to from here?

"We can only do so much, mate," Beale said, again with unexpected insight. "We're aware that if we win the way we did [on Saturday] night we'll start to get support back. We've got all the confidence in the world that when we keep backing each other, keep working hard together, we'll slowly get back the support we want and deserve."