What Cheika says he delivered at the interval was a honest assessment of the subdued showing his side had produced in the opening 40 minutes.

"I think you have to tell the truth to the boys at half-time about where we were mentally in that game.

"There was some tactical issues that we needed to address, but that was secondary to the idea that maybe we thought we were going to be handed victory. That doesn't happen ever in this game."

Second-half tries from Josh Bassett, Dan Kelly and Handre Pollard - who also added three conversions and a penalty - proved enough to edge the hosts to a dramatic victory.

"I think they showed good character in the end, because those situations are difficult to get out of," Cheika said.

"We didn't go quiet in that adversity, we stood up."