The Wallabies made hard work of it, but Dave Rennie’s men have made it five wins on the trot with victory over Japan.

When Rob Leota steamed over out wide to extend their lead out to 27-13, it appeared as if Rennie’s men would run away with it.

But a terrible final half-hour saw Japan close to within a converted try, as the Wallabies scraped home 32-23 in Oita.

The nine-point win saw the Wallabies record five straight wins for the first time since their run to the World Cup final in 2015.

Former New Zealand great Andrew Mehrtens labelled the performance a “backwards step” in commentary midway through the second half.

So abject was their second-half performance was that Quade Cooper, who was excellent in the opening half, was forced to look for a penalty to extend their lead out beyond a converted try late in the match.

But even Cooper, who kicked Australia to victory against South Africa a month earlier to start their excellent run of form, kicked wide.

Japan closed to within a try after 75 minutes when Yu Tamura landed a penalty, before James O’Connor was injected into the fray.

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