Prop Angus Bell says the Wallabies' desperate victory over Portugal is bittersweet with no guarantee it will keep them alive at the World Cup.
The Wallabies ended the pool stage of the France tournament with two wins but also suffered disastrous losses to Wales and Fiji, who could leapfrog Australia into second spot in their final match.
Watch every game of the Rugby World Cup LIVE on Stan Sport. Start watching Stan Sport now.
If they'd won against Wales or Fiji - who they'd never previously lost to in a World Cup - the Australians could be looking ahead to a quarter-final clash in Marseille but instead may carry the humiliation of becoming the first Wallabies side ever to miss the last eight.
Bell had mixed emotions after Sunday's 34-14 victory in Saint-Etienne, contemplating what might have been.
"It's bittersweet - we're proud at putting a good performance in for the Australian public, as a lot of people travelled over here (or) woke up early to watch that game," Bell said.
"I guess we're still in it, it's all on the result next week from Fiji-Portugal. We'll keep training hard and keep trying to get better on the back of that."
The 22-year-old prop has been a shining light for the Wallabies through a mostly miserable tournament, having feared he would miss the global showpiece due to persistent foot injuries.
He scored his first Test try in the Portugal match and helped set up others for lock Richie Arnold and hooker Dave Porecki.
"It was a bit of a blur, I don't score too many tries nowadays so it was good, I enjoyed it," said Bell, whose father Mark played a Test for the Wallabies in 1996.
"Every game I just try and put my best foot forward.
"My job as a prop is to lock down the set piece and be good around the field and add value to the team. I feel like I can add a point of difference as well.
"I'm just happy to do my job and I'm happy to get the win as a team."
Bell said his run of injuries had changed his mindset and he would use that to approach the week, with the Wallabies only advancing to the play-offs if Portugal deny Fiji any competition points in Bordeaux next Sunday (Monday AEDT).
"One thing for us, and especially me coming back from a long-term injury, is controlling the controllables - everything that we've done is behind us, we can't change that," Bell said.
"We just focused on Portugal and getting a good result there, and now it's up to the game on the weekend whether Portugal do a job on Fiji."
