Australia ran in six tries against South Africa in Brisbane

"It was a step in the right direction to get that ruthless edge and put teams away," said the scrum-half.

But he added: "We don't want to get too carried away and it's important we look at the areas we want to improve on."

Australia's next game is on 29 July against a New Zealand side who beat them 32-12 in Christchurch last week.

Gregan said the Wallabies would go into the game against the All Blacks in Brisbane with more confidence after the victory over South Africa.

He was particularly pleased with the forwards following his side's biggest ever win over the Springboks.

"It was a good performance from the backs but that's been laid down by the awesome effort by our forwards," said Gregan.

"I thought it was outstanding, they really took on the challenge and rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in.

We're delighted with our performance but we know we can improve on it a great deal, we were loose in some areas Australia coach John Connolly

"It was a really good effort because South Africa's a very proud rugby nation, they competed right to the end and we were able to absorb that."

Australia coach John Connolly was also happy with the way his pack defied predictions that they would struggle against South Africa's powerhouse scrum.

"We're delighted with our performance but we know we can improve on it a great deal, we were loose in some areas," he said.

"It was a phenomenal win - beating South Africa 49-0 is not an every day occurrence. The forwards had a point to prove and they did it well.

"We took the foot off the pedal in the second half and left a lot of tries out there. But it gives us a lot of confidence for the next game against New Zealand."