After waiting 27 years for one Scotland captain to beat Australia, two came along at once on Saturday night.
When Chris Cusiter was forced from the field midway through the first half of his side's incredible 9-8 victory at Murrayfield, Glasgow team-mate Alastair Kellock was handed the armband.
And the lock helped Scotland complete the job after one of the greatest rearguard wins in recent Test history.
Warriors skipper Kellock, 28, had no idea he would be taking over the captaincy if Cusiter left the field.
"I was told when Chris went off," he said. "There's senior players throughout the whole team, leaders throughout the whole team."
"It's a big honour."
Head coach Andy Robinson hailed Kellock's half-time team-talk for helping inspire Saturday's result.
Revealing what was said, Kellock added: "We spoke at half-time about getting our ball carriers in the game."
"We also spoke about the fact that the passion has to be right up there."
"We had a great crowd in but we can't expect them to lift us; we have to lift them first and foremost with the display we put on."
"Although at times we didn't play fantastic rugby, we gave absolutely everything."
Kellock admitted he thought the game had gone when Matt Giteau stepped up to convert Ryan Cross' try in stoppage-time.
"I went behind the posts and, to be honest, I thought he'd kick it," he said.
"It probably made it even better that he didn't."
"It was a great feeling."
Kellock paid tribute to the 44,762 inside Murrayfield.
"The period when we were defending on our own line, the noise was absolutely fantastic," he said.
"I've played at Murrayfield when it's busy like that and it's fantastic."
Reflecting on the wider significance of the result against a country ranked third in the world, Kellock rated it alongside the 2006 Calcutta Cup win against England.
He added: "It's a great result for us; it's been 27 years since we beat them and that's huge."
"You think about the fantastic players who have gone in between that period without beating Australia."
"I'm not putting our 22 on a pedestal just because we won that game against them, but it's fantastic."
He added: "It was a very, very good Australian side."
Cusiter had to be replaced after suffering a head knock.
The scrum-half said: "I was watching the second half and cheered on the boys."
"It was just outstanding; the effort and the urgency in defence was unbelievable and the passion that everyone showed."
"I was so proud watching it, wishing I was out there."
"It obviously got very dramatic at the end but I think we deserved to win."
Kellock knows the importance of ensuring tonight's win is not a one-off ahead of next Saturday's final autumn international against Argentina.
"We'll let it settle down; we'll look at it again," he said.
"We'll aim to improve on the things we need to improve on."
"We'll look at Argentina as soon as we come in."
"Again, it'll be a different task and we'll be organised for it."