Wallabies five-eighth Berrick Barnes says the thought of his new born son and pure adrenalin lifted him to a man of the match performance in the Test win over Wales, capping the best 24 hours of his life.

Barnes rode every emotion as he rushed to Sydney for the emergency arrival of his son Archie, who was six weeks early after complications with his wife Bec’s pregnancy.

He only arrived back in Melbourne just over an hour before kick-off but played one of the best games of his career and solidified his hold on the Wallabies No.10 jersey with injured trio Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor circling.

The 25-year-old NSW playmaker said he couldn’t help but think about Archie during the game but the fact that he had arrived safely allowed him to focus on steering his side to a series win.

“It’s definitely the best buzz you can have,” said Barnes, who left the field in the 73rd minute with cramping with his replacement Mike Harris kicking the winning penalty goal in the 25-23 win.

“You have to rely on the adrenalin.

“I had doubts coming down about letting anyone down … I was probably more relieved at the end of the game to feel I’d contributed in some way to that.”

After a disappointing Super Rugby season with NSW, Barnes was excited to be playing in front of the Sydney crowd on Saturday afternoon and hoped to deliver a win.

“I haven’t done much different, I’ve been working really hard on my game but I worked really hard for the Tahs.”

Barnes said after already wrapping up the series Australia needed to find “value and meaning” in the third Test, just as they did in their third-fourth play-off against Wales at the World Cup.

In a good omen, he starred in that game last year.

And once he finishes the job for the Wallabies, Barnes then has another important task ahead – putting together young Archie’s cot.