John Eales will always be remembered for his cool head under pressure. If anyone needed reminding he gave them one last show at Stadium Australia on Saturday night.

With the Wallabies pounding the All Blacks line for little reward in the final 10 minutes of the Tri-Nations decider and trailing 26-22, Eales on several occasions had the chance to opt for a penalty kick at goal with time on the clock. But on each occasion, the Wallabies kicked for touch in a bid for the try.

It speaks volumes not only of Eales' calmness, but also in the confidence he had for the side and its self-belief to overcome any challenge.

Eales' faith finally paid off with just over a minute remaining when Queensland No.8 Toutai Kefu crashed over to snatch a 29-26 victory. The Wallabies retained the Tri-Nations Trophy and Eales bowed out of international rugby with the farewell he deserved.

As the Wallabies joyously embraced each other, most of the 90,978-strong crowd stood in admiration. Throughout the stadium there was overwhelming satisfaction and relief that Eales was given such a grand send-off. Of course, the final gut wrenching 10 minutes provided the ideal atmosphere.

One player really celebrating hard was Kefu. He will never have to pay for a drink again if Eales is anywhere nearby.

"We were very fortunate," Eales said, " I think I'll buy Kef a drink anytime, anywhere ... whenever he likes."

The Wallabies have made a habit of responding positively to any challenge thrown up. Several last-gasp victories are testament to their composure.

"We felt that if we kept up the pressure we'd eventually get through," Eales said. "We did that, we kept the pressure on and in the end we got away with it.

"The All Blacks were all over us and for a moment it looked like we could have lost, but when Toutai went over, I think there was a lot of very happy Australians out there.

"I think there's no doubt this team's grown in composure - we don't panic when situations might be getting on top of us."