He may still be learning Advance Australia Fair, but Robbie Deans has made a triumphant start as the Wallabies' first foreign coach.

Deans' former Crusaders jestfully sang Australia's national anthem - twice - in the winning dressing room after the Super 14 final two weeks ago in Christchurch and it is a good bet the supercoach was asked to join in on Saturday night following the Wallabies' tense 18-12 win over Ireland at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.

It wasn't the most polished display, but the Wallabies showed enough in the six-point victory to suggest their New Zealand boss should know the words in full by the end of their bumper 15-Test campaign in 2008.

In their first match since falling to England in the quarter-finals of last year's Rugby World Cup in France, the Wallabies wiped away the dust - if not quite the Irish - to run in two vital first-half tries before producing an admirable rearguard defensive effort in the dying stages to kick off the new era in encouraging fashion.

The rust was evident at times but there were plenty of other exciting moments featuring nice interplay between forwards and backs and a general willingness to play more vibrant and adventurous rugby.

Rookie halfback Luke Burgess was sound, if unspectacular, in his eagerly-waited first Test, while debutant winger Peter Hynes looked genuinely dangerous whenever he had room to showcase his blistering pace.

Five-eighth Matt Giteau was his usual classy and livewire self - as well as reliable as Australia's new first-choice goalkicker - even if his combinations with Burgess inside and Berrick Barnes outside him are still works in progress.

And the revitalised Lote Tuqiri played with energy and confidence, particularly in the first half, while the Wallabies pack did the job in nullifying their physical Irish counterparts.

"Obviously the performance wasn't flawless and clearly the guys' legs were pretty heavy at the end," Deans said.

"The Irish played well. They asked a lot of us. They profited on a couple of occasions pretty easily, which put us under pressure in terms of closing the game out.

"But the guys hung in there well. It was never going to be perfect first-up.

"Early, I think we produced a bit of pressure and we were close to breaking a couple of occasions but weren't successful and that put us back into an arm wrestle again.

"But, essentially, (I'm) pretty pleased off a short background and with some of the character that was shown in closing it out."

Barnes had the distinction of scoring the first try of the Deans reign after being on hand to capitalise on a barnstorming Tuqiri run in the fifth minute.

Tuqiri took a pass from George Smith near the opposition quarter line, beat one defender with pace, then treated Irish fullback Robert Kearney as a speed bump before offloading to Barnes a metre out when he was finally brought to the ground.

Giteau's sideline conversion attempt shaved the post, but the Wallabies were nevertheless up and running with an early 5-0 lead.

It was the start of a rousing first half from Tuqiri in both attack and defence, yet it was Ireland who scored next through flanker Denis Leamy in the 15th minute following a lineout win just five metres out from the Wallabies try line.

Ronan O'Gara's successful conversion nudged Ireland ahead 7-5, but the Wallabies were quick to restore their lead following some fancy footwork from Giteau.

The stepping Giteau fooled two defenders before finding big lock James Horwill, who crashed over from close range.

Giteau slotted the conversion this time to leave the Wallabies up 12-7 after 21 minutes and then nailed a 40-metre penalty goal five minutes later to leave the home side comfortably placed at the interval.

Another Giteau penalty goal in the 44th minute extended Australia's lead to 11 points, but a well-earned try to Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll following some smart counter-attack from the tourists set up a nailbiting final quarter of an hour.

But the Wallabies dug deep, tackling their hearts out for more than a dozen phases at the death to deny Ireland their first Test win in Australia since 1979.

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