Australia coach John Connolly has told his players not to get carried away with their 49-0 Tri-Nations win over South Africa, warning them they still had a long way to go before they can expect to beat New Zealand.

The Wallabies, still smarting from the criticism over their 32-12 loss to New Zealand, rebounded with an emphatic six-try demolition of the South Africans at Brisbane's Lang Park on Saturday.

Connolly said his team had played markedly better than the week before and the result had given them renewed confidence ahead of their next match against the All Blacks on July 29, but they needed to improve even further if they wanted to win.

The Wallaby backs, led by flyhalf Stephen Larkham, showed again why they are regarded as one of the best attacking units in the world with inside centre Matt Giteau crossing twice and fullback Chris Latham once but their performances could not mask some other glaring problems.

The Australians squandered several try-scoring opportunities while the scrum, which crumbled so badly against New Zealand, was again suspect.

The Wallaby pack spent most of the first half backpedalling before finally gaining parity only when the big South African forwards began to tire.

"This win has definitely given us a lot of confidence but we're also aware we have to tighten up a lot of things in our game," Connolly said.

"All those things the All Blacks will kill you for."

Skipper George Gregan also acknowledged the improved performance of Australia's forwards but agreed with Connolly they would have to raise their game against New Zealand, who are unrivalled as the world's top-ranked team.

"They took on the challenge, rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in," Gregan said.

"I think it's a step in the right direction but we don't want to get too carried away.

"The next contest will be here in two weeks' time against a totally different opposition, but there will be some confidence in the group."