But the Wallabies five-eighth is convinced that despite the embarrassment of bumbling his way when coming off the bench for the final minutes of the England Test, the rude awakening eventually worked in his favour. He learnt that nothing could be taken for granted, and hard work was the only way to avoid further humiliation.

Six years later, another novice from left field, midfielder James O'Connor, is set to make his Test debut on a Wallabies end-of-season tour, and Giteau has good advice for him. Listen. Learn. Ask questions. Expect some stumbles. But always keep your eyes wide open.

In 2002, the then Wallabies coach, Eddie Jones, took an enormous gamble in selecting Giteau from the Canberra club ranks before he had played a Super 14 game. Despite his opening blemish, it was soon seen to be a wise move as it did not take long for Giteau to become an established member of the Australian attack.

In O'Connor's favour is that he has at least played four Super 14 matches for the Western Force before he heads to Hong Kong and Europe. The downside is that he is so young - 18.

Not surprisingly when the Wallabies assembled in Sydney for a training camp this week, O'Connor seemed starry-eyed. Giteau yesterday hoped his Force teammate did not feel intimidated by all the big names surrounding him, but instead soaked up their knowledge.

"The most important thing for him is to learn as much as he can," Giteau said. "If he can learn from players who are successful, even if it is a front-rower or back-rower, it can only make him a better player. And if he doesn't understand something, just ask. It revolves around learning from all of your experiences."

Even horrid ones.

"When I was picked for the Wallabies, I probably wasn't ready for Test rugby," Giteau said. "But the experience of that first Test was so important. After that, I knew what level I had to be at to be successful. I knew then I was out of my depth, but still learnt so much from that game and that Wallaby tour.

"Until I ran on, I had been watching that Test like a spectator. Once I got out there, it was an enormous discovery. I quickly found out the difference in speed between an ordinary game and a Test match, and exactly where I needed to be … What was good was that I came away from that tour knowing I had a long way to go, and that I had to start working really hard to get to the required level."

Apart from the tints in the hair, and the bravado, Giteau can see other similarities between himself and O'Connor.

"When he first came into the Force team, he was pretty shy around me and a few of the guys. He was very much like myself when I began with the Wallabies … I wouldn't dare say anything, and would go out of my way to do things I wouldn't normally do to keep people happy. But once you settle into a place, you become yourself, and that's when you feel more at ease. When he began to know everyone [at the Force], that's when he began to talk it all up, and tell everyone how good he was."

Have you ever done that? "Never."