Oblivious to the crowd's jeers, Quade Cooper had the last laugh after delivering a five-eighth master class to get the Wallabies up and running at the Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand's "Public Enemy No.1" was roundly booed up every time he lined up a kick at goal on Sunday, his every error met with roars of delight from the non-Australian sections at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium.

But the classy No.10 responded by setting up three of Australia's four second-half tries with magic touches in a 32-6 victory after Italy had threatened a major boilover by restricting the Wallabies to 6-6 at halftime.

"You can't tell if they are cheering or booing. The roar from the crowd just spurs you on," said Cooper, who has upset New Zealanders with some on-field incidents involving All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw.

Coach Robbie Deans was full of praise for his playmaker, crediting Cooper and Will Genia for turning the match around.

"You've got to give Quade credit for the way the team adapted and he drives that," Deans said.

"There's always circumstances like today where there's lots of intensity, not easy conditions and the likes of he and Willy make more decisions than anybody, so there's always going to be decisions that don't look that great.

"But they adjusted well and got us on the front foot.

"Quade mixed up our point of attack really well in the second half."

The bonus-point win over a rugged outfit that had upset France in this year's Six Nations was more than the Wallabies had hoped for.

And Cooper was the undoubted star, setting his team alight with some brilliant footwork and three delightful short passes for match-turning tries to wingers Digby Ioane, Adam Ashley-Cooper and James O'Connor, who made a dream return from suspension as a second-half replacement.

Such was Australia's pointscoring blitz early in the second half that Deans was able to clear his bench with 20 minutes remaining, giving key players David Pocock, Rocky Elsom, Genia and others an early mark ahead of Saturday's big Pool C clash with Ireland at Eden Park.

"We're conscious of that fact that we've got a six-day turnaround, so it was great that we were able to do that," Deans said.

South Africa's 17-16 escape over Wales in Wellington on Sunday night left the Springboks as likely Pool D winners, meaning they will avoid a knockout quarter-final against Australia.

The Wallabies are favoured to top Pool C and play Wales or Samoa in the quarters.

Fullback Kurtley Beale was on the shortlist for the world player of the year but he said the entire Wallabies backline had Cooper to thank for making them look good.

"He's a world-class player and he's getting better and better every time he plays and it's just great to play outside of him," Beale told AAP.

"Opportunities come left, right and centre for us.

"I thought he managed his game very well today. His kicking for touch and position was outstanding and then his running and passing game was awesome as well."

O'Connor also had a day out, using his 32-minute cameo off the bench to almost certainly win back his starting spot on the right wing.

Along with Cooper, O'Connor made his Test debut against Italy three years ago in Padova, then scored three tries against the Azzurri in his maiden Test start the following year.

On Sunday, he was tormenting the Italians again, going within a metre of scoring with his first touch of the ball.

While prop Ben Alexander had the distinction of netting Australia's opening five-pointer of the tournament from the following phase, O'Connor didn't have to wait long, crossing nine minutes later after trailing Cooper on the inside.

O'Connor also relieved Cooper of the goalkicking duties and finished the game with a personal tally of 11 points from his try and three conversions from four attempts.

The Australian pack also excelled, with skipper James Horwill and second-rower partner Dan Vickerman having a powerful games, along with No.8 Radike Samo.

The Wallabies front row of Alexander, Sekope Kepu and hooker Stephen Moore outpointed their respected Italian scrum rivals, while Elsom and Pocock were typically industrious in the slippery conditions.

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