The Wallabies' spring tour may not have convinced everyone they can win the Rugby World Cup, but it surely convinced rivals they're best avoided in New Zealand next year.

Australia return home with four wins from five Tests and a reputation of being able to rip anyone to shreds when they get it right.

Or even when they don't quite get it right, as Six Nations champions France found out in Saturday night's record-breaking 59-16 thrashing at the Stade de France in Paris.

With the 26-24 win over the All Blacks in Hong Kong to kick off the tour, the Wallabies clocked victories over the southern and northern hemisphere champions, sowing seeds of doubt which will surely linger.

International rivals will be nervous about dealing with the likes of Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper and James O'Connor in a sudden-death World Cup match.

That was never more evident than in the six-try, 46-point second half blitz the young Australians put on in Paris against a shell-shocked and clueless French team which capitulated under the onslaught.

The talk before the match was about the international trend to giant backlines, with Australia's fleet-footed unit small in comparison.

But it was the little men whose skill and dash, behind a powerhouse forward effort led by David Pocock, who made their burly opponents look old fashioned.

The 43-point winning margin smashed their previous best of 30 against France, while O'Connor beat Matt Burke's record haul of 25 points against Les Bleus with a personal tally of 29.

There was little inkling of what was to come when the Australian scrum was pummelled in the first half and an ominous penalty try to the French meant the sides went to the break at 13-13.

But two tries in three minutes to inspired prop Benn Robinson and halfback Will Genia gave the visitors breathing space before a late hat-trick to winger Drew Mitchell and an O'Connor try knocked the stuffing out of the French.

"This has been coming for us for a while," coach Robbie Deans said.

"We've got a young group of men who are now becoming experienced.

"Some of the composure they showed in the physical exchanges was evident.

"Where we had been a little bit flighty in the past, some of these blokes are now a lot more assured at Test level."

The spring tour might be remembered for the Deans philosophy that says winning doesn't always require a dominant scrum.

While the Australian set piece has real problems, which seemed to be partly fixed by Robinson's return to form in Paris, the Wallabies still managed to win Tests on tour against Wales and France when the scrum was going backwards.

The tour also eventually produced two solid goalkickers after problems with the boot had plagued the side for months and resulted in Matt Giteau stepping down from the job.

It took three Tests to get there, but Berrick Barnes booted eight from nine against Italy and O'Connor 10 from 12 against the French.

The anomaly in the five weeks, apart from an ill-fated midweek ambush by Munster, was the record loss to England who surprisingly outplayed the Wallabies at their own high-paced game at Twickenham.

"We believe the future's promising but we're also realistic enough to know, particularly having been earthed recently against England, that you've got to earn everything at this level," Deans said.

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