The point is that if they were to meet in the World Cup final tomorrow, you could hazard a pretty good guess at who would be wearing the gold numbers 15 to 1. That could not be said of the All Blacks right now.
Australia got a spanking from Samoa in their cup lead-up, of which Deans admitted "there's no doubt we learnt a lot from that encounter" when several leading players were left out.
"But we routinely select the team we think is in our best interests in any given week. That won't change," he said.
There may be some tinkering to come against the United States and Russia but you sense that plans are falling into place.
The one irritation is Ioane's injury, but Deans seemed confident it will not rule him out of the entire tournament.
O'Connor, who made an impact off the bench last weekend on his return from a suspension and fine for misbehaving, stuck to a simple, and often repeated, "I'm stoked to be back, can't wait to play against Ireland" line yesterday. Deans offered a welcome back to his chastened 21-year-old, but with a hint of crunch in the message: "I've no doubt he'll be less likely to take that jersey for granted in the future."
And as for the other Wallaby in the spotlight, Quade Cooper shook off former Australian captain Nick Farr-Jones describing him as a "boofhead", slightly bizarrely viewing it positively.
Alongside him, fullback Kurtley Beale was asked if the description fit. "Just have a look at him," he quipped.
It is the coach's 50th test in charge tomorrow - joining Bob Dwyer (67 tests) and Eddie Jones (57) as the only half-centurions to run the Wallaby cutter.
This is the game which holds the key to topping pool C. Ireland's record against Australia is pretty credible - eight wins from 29 games - so it didn't take much for those at the top table yesterday to sing from the same sheet on the size of the challenge Ireland presents.
Asked about any fears that Ireland might pull out a one-off storming performance, Deans took the other tack.
"Every time you strap on the boots there's potential to fail. We all live with that.
"But we also choose that. We love what we do, and more importantly we've got an opportunity to succeed as well," Deans said.
The Wallabies' last win at Eden Park was 25 years ago. Blindside flanker Rocky Elsom's dry wit shone through as he pointed out "Ireland have no better record than us over the last 20 years at Eden Park.
"You'd think someone's got to win, so that'd be a good start."
Indeed a chance to nail a win at what has become an All Black fortress - last loss in Auckland 17 years ago against France - for psychological reasons as much as anything else should be grasped eagerly.
