"Was this enough to send tremors through the All Blacks camp? No. The Wallabies will need to find another two gears in the final," Cully conceded. "But rewind a year and picture the Wallabies in a World Cup final. The journey has been astounding."
Cully said Australia's ability to seize try-scoring chances was another threat to New Zealand.
"Argentina turned up with the most romantic story but the Wallabies brought the precision. Yet again, their exit plays were excellent, and their line speed was superb. At times the Pumas must have felt like they were playing in the box, so hastily was space closed down.
"By 50 minutes David Pocock had already turned the ball over at least three times, and slowed countless others. Regardless of next week's result the 2015 World Cup will always have his stamp on it."
Much post-match focus after Australia's 29-15 victory was aimed at the Pumas causing so much angst for the Wallabies at scrum-time and the key set piece area being vulnerable to the All Blacks.
But Cully claimed the All Blacks have their own scrum issues and that offers "a shard of hope" for Australian coach Michael Cheika.
"A few years ago the All Blacks probably had the best scrum in the world," wrote Cully. "With Tony Woodcock at his peak, Andrew Hore and Keven Mealamu in the same position, and Brad Thorn providing the power from the second row, they used it to destroy opposition ball as well as win their own.
"That's gone now. They have the world's best lineout, and hooker Dane Coles is a key part of that, but the scrum has lost a little of its power and South Africa worked an advantage there at times in the semi-final.
"Not only did they win penalties from their own feed, but the unusual sight of Kieran Read fumbling for the ball at the base of his scrum on All Blacks ball took away that clean set-piece possession New Zealand thrive on.
"You have to win a lot of the small battles to beat the All Blacks, and the scrum is one area where that may be possible."
Jamie Pandaram, writing in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, offered a similar sentiment.
"The scrum was wobbly. But don't worry, that shouldn't be an issue next weekend," he predicted. "While Australia was towelled up in the scrums, Argentina has the best scrum in the world.
"Even New Zealand struggled against the Pumas in that department in their pool game, and the two finalists should be evenly matched at the set-piece. Australia will be hoping first-choice loosehead Scott Sio, who missed this match through injury but scrummaged so well against the All Blacks earlier this year, will overcome his elbow injury in time."
Pandaram noted the All Blacks and Wallabies were 1-1 this season but pointed out the big loss in Auckland came when Chieka rested key players including Pocock.
"No other player has more impact on games," he said. "Pocock has killed England, Wales and Argentina at the breakdown and Australia ended up winning those games comfortably. He was out injured against Scotland and Australia barely scraped through the quarter-final. Pocock scored four incredible pilfers against the Pumas which completely nullified promising attacking raids and regained ascendancy for his team.
"Make no mistake, the All Blacks will spend an enormous amount of time this week trying to figure out how to stop Pocock from disrupting their attack."
Georgina Robinson, in the Sydney Morning Herald, was a little more circumspect about Australia's prospects and admitted she is worried about the Wallaby scrum.
"A hat-trick to veteran winger Adam Ashley-Cooper and the defensive mastery of David Pocock put Australia in a position of strength throughout the match, but a Scott Sio-less scrum will give the All Blacks a nudge in the right direction in their preparations this week. The Pumas' set piece was at its ruthless best, keeping them in the contest and the pressure on the two-time World Cup winners.
"The Wallabies were far from perfect. Early breakdown penalties, some over-cooked kicking, handling errors and some careless offside penalties kept the Pumas snapping at Australia's heels, when a World Cup aspirant would want to have the game locked away."
