Half of the cavalry are coming over the ridge to reinforce the Wallabies for an incredibly testing Tri-Nations but they had better fire their shots immediately.

On the evidence of Australia's scrappy 22-15 win over Ireland, following their drawn Cook Cup series, a massive improvement is required to compete with the might of New Zealand and South Africa.

While the Wallabies have bumbled along in the last fortnight, the world No.1-ranked All Blacks and world champion Springboks have flexed their muscles.

Coach Robbie Deans on Sunday agreed with skipper Rocky Elsom's blunt post-match assertion that Australia had "plenty of work to do" before their Tri-Nations opener against South Africa on July 24 at Suncorp Stadium.

A failure to beat either the Springboks or All Blacks in their opening back-to-back home matches will have the Australians facing the dire prospect of another tournament wooden-spoon following last year's unsavoury 1-5 record.

But Deans is also smiling about the lessons learned by a tough month which has seen five-eighth Quade Cooper emerge with two man-of-the-match awards to put a downpayment on the playmaking role for next year's World Cup.

The cohesion and scrum problems have been borne out of a long injury list which had eight first-choice players watching the two-try shutout of the off-key Irish in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Three of those - front-rowers Benn Robinson and Stephen Moore and veteran lock Nathan Sharpe - will definitely be back to strengthen the depleted tight-five for the Springboks clash.

Influential halfback Will Genia is also eying a return from a broken hand on July 24 but may struggle to start even if he recovers as quickly as he expects with Deans pleased with back-up Luke Burgess's improvement.

The Wallabies sorely missed winger Digby Ioane's line-breaking thrust against Ireland and he's also desperate to work his way back from a dislocated shoulder to play NZ in Melbourne on July 31.

The likes of injured stars Ben Alexander, Wycliff Palu, James Horwill and probably Tatafu Polota-Nau, booked in for surgery on July 22, won't be included in the 30-man squad to be named on July 8.

Deans admitted his side was far from perfect but was satisfied considering the injury toll, and enthusiastic about Cooper's baptism at No.10 and the development of rookie front-rowers Ben Daley, Saia Faingaa, Salesi Ma'afu and James Slipper.

"I'm pretty proud of the effort of the group in this month to be honest," he said on Sunday.

"Sure we didn't win every Test ... but within that we've seen the emergence of some players who are going to be here for a while and they have emerged through some trying circumstance and you saw last night their growth and that comes forward with us.

"We've also seen a bloke (Cooper) play his first Test match on Australian soil at No.10 and he's certainly going to be a part of this for a while.

"It hasn't been a wasted month, there's no doubt about that."

In what was the last clash between pool opponents Australia and Ireland before the 2011 World Cup, Cooper stole the ascendancy from the Irish with a magical stepping try on the stroke of halftime.

Instead of turning 15-11 down, the Wallabies had the lead and never looked like losing in the second half despite an inability to land a killer blow.

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