They emerged from the fallout and recriminations from that tournament as the slick, well-drilled outfit they are today, winning the next two World Cups and carving out an aura of near invincibility.
"If you go back, 2007 wasn't a flash year for us trying to get things right," Byrne said in Christchurch yesterday.
"But certainly when it clicks into gear, it happens, and when you turn the corner, you turn it pretty quickly.
"The key is perseverance and these boys' energy to do that has been tremendous."
Byrne admitted Australia's passing and tackling skills weren't up to scratch in Saturday's Bledisloe Cup opener and said he felt sympathy for fans demanding quick progress in that department.
"What we know, and it's been no different in any environment I've been in, we see the improvement on the training field before it transfers to the game," he said.
"If we are not seeing on it the training field, that's when I get frustrated or start questioning what we are doing.
"But we are seeing huge improvements there and it's going to be persistence that will start to transfer it out into the game.
"I understand people's frustrations that they're not seeing it straight away.
"Maybe that's a thing of society, there's an instant gratification that's everybody is after. But this is just hard work that takes time."
- AAP
