Image source, Getty Images

So, what have we learnt from the autumn internationals? Wales can actually beat southern hemisphere teams, though they perhaps still need to be more streetwise; England have work to do but end their autumn international series on a high, while Ireland and Scotland have both impressed this month. It bodes well for the Six Nations. See you in February!

Keith Wood
Former Ireland hooker on BBC Red Button

"I'm looking forward to the Six Nations already. There's something magic about it. I think Ireland have to go into it as favourites, given the way they've performed over the year. They've been excellent.

"I'm hoping and believing that they have gone past that metal hurdle of dealing with the favourites tag."

Jeremy Guscott
Former England centre on BBC Red Button

"I think the Six Nations is going to be incredible competitive. I know we say it pretty much every year but Scotland have improved under Vern Cotter, Ireland have kicked on from winning the Six Nations, Wales have ended a disappointing year with a fantastic victory, England have huge resources and Italy pushed South Africa close.

"But Ireland look an incredibly smooth, well-oiled machine. The one flaw in that is that they're a one-trick horse; they're kicking, they're chasing and defending. I've seen phase one of the Joe Schmidt plan; I'd like to see phase two and phase three."

South Africa lock Victor Matfield, speaking to BBC Sport about the injury to Jean de Villiers: "It's not looking good for Jean. He's had a bad run of injuries. He thinks it's pretty bad. We're hoping it's not as bad as it looks.

On South Africa's performance: "We're still a year away from the World Cup, but this is not up to our standards. We're not happy with the tour, having lost two matches, but there are still some senior players to come back and I'm sure we'll come back before the World Cup.

"We got the yellow card with 18 minutes to go. The aim was not to concede any points in those 10 minutes, and we managed that. Then we had a chance to score. We didn't get a clean scrum at the end and that cost us. Rugby is a game of centimetres."

Matt Dawson
Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"England's autumn has been six out of ten tops, but it's been a good finish."

England coach Stuart Lancaster: "We've still got lots to work on, we know that. We have some good players to come back into the equation ahead of the Six Nations. We played intelligently today, kicking at the right time, turning them and using our set-piece. And the boys executed the gameplan. The scrum was excellent, as was the maul. But that was the game today - you have to play rugby in different ways.

"We've got a good pack. We're not just a set-piece side, because we're bound to run up against scrums that'll match us. But against New Zealand and South Africa, our game management let us down. Overall, today our game management was much better."

More from Heyneke Meyer: "We didn't cope well with the pressure and, at this level, you have to convert your pressure. You want to win every single game, but there's still time to fix things. You have to put guys in a situation and see how they cope. Some of the guys didn't cope, but you have to look at yourself as a coach."

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer, speaking to BBC Sport: "I thought Wales played well and were the better team. We normally build momentum in the last 20 minutes, but there were two big turning points. We lost our captain and got a yellow card. But Wales were the better side.

"Losing our captain was a big set-back. Jean has had so many knee injuries. Victor Matfield's a great leader. But I feel really sorry for Jean. I hope he will be back for the World Cup."

Martyn Williams
Former Wales captain on BBC Red Button

Should World Rugby focus on ensuring a full 80 minutes of play as far as possible at the Six Nations?

"I can't see why when the scrum-half has got the ball, the clock stops until the ball comes out of the scrum. When it's 77 minutes gone and the scrum goes down, that's more or less the game over."

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Image source, Getty Images

England's George Ford: "Everybody wants to win against a brilliant Australian team. It's a good feeling and I thought the performance was very good. Our game management was also good - we were a bit smarter than we have been in recent weeks.

"The forwards laid the platform for us to create chances and hopefully score tries. It was nice to repay the forwards back.

"Today was a step up for me, from Premiership to Samoa to Australia. But I've had good people around me and the training gets you ready for international rugby. It's been perfect for me and I've really enjoyed it."

"He was a good eight or nine out of 10 today," says Jeremy Guscott of Dan Biggar's performance at outside-half. The Ospreys fly-half defended superbly and controlled the game.

Martyn Williams
Former Wales captain on BBC Red Button

On the second-half sin-binning of South Africa's Cornal Hendricks: "I don't think it was a yellow card. It was a debatable penalty. When it's slowed down, it looks a lot worse than it was. Leigh Halfpenny's jumping into Cornal Hendricks if anything. But I don't think it was the deciding factor in the game. If Leigh Halfpenny lands on his feet, it wouldn't be a penalty."

More from Warren Gatland: "I think we're a long way ahead of where we thought we'd be. Our fitness in those big games was excellent. We kept going right to the end. There are still things to work on, but we showed today that we can compete with the big teams."

Wales coach Warren Gatland, speaking to BBC Sport: "We should have won by more. We've pushed the big three pretty close in this campaign. We couldn't get across the line for two of those games, but we've done it today.

"You don't want to be in our coach's box. We made it tough for ourselves. If we'd taken a few opportunities, we'd have won the game more comfortably. We showed a lot of character and I'm very proud of the boys. We try to communicate to the media and the public that these two campaigns are about the World Cup, because that's what we're going to be judged on. We're a long way down the road and we'll get better."

Matt Dawson
Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"That's more like it!! Northern hemisphere ruling. Well done Wales."

Generic Name: , externalI think this tour shows the gap between North and South is narrowing #bbcrugby

Kit Mersey: , external @Grant (16:31) what on earth are you talking about? Ford and Barritt were immense!! Well done England, great game!

Alistair Lowe: , external ‏Great result for England. Pack immense at scrum and maul time. Aussies' backs played some beautiful running rugby as well.

Wales coach Warren Gatland finally has time to appear before the cameras and the New Zealander says: "We deserved that. We should have won by more." He goes on to say it's all about the World Cup and believes his players are "a long way ahead of where we wanted to be".

Image source, Getty Images

Si Morgan: , externalGET IN THERE WALES YOU ABSOLUTE BEAUTIES!!!

L Higgins:, external Brilliant brilliant wales performance with guts, guile and a heavy dose of passion

Mathew Hulbert:, external Wales deserved that win but we made hard work to win

Image source, AP

England man-of-the-match Ben Morgan: "Across the board we knew it was going to be a battle, but we've got a lot of leaders in our squad marshalling us on the field. We said all week we had to stick to our gameplan. We had to trust it, and we knew we'd come good in the end."

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Graham Rowntree, England coach: "We had to dig in there and I'm proud of how the lads did that. We keep making little errors and getting out of our own 22 was an issue for a while, but we kept our composure and eked out points at the right times.

"We desperately needed the win - it was vital, because at times our performance levels haven't been as high as they should have been.

"The best thing to restore belief is winning. We had very frank discussions after New Zealand and South Africa, but you always need to look forward.

"We've got a great young set of lads and, today, it was all about getting a win against a big nation. I have worked the lads hard and I'm proud of how they've adapted."