RUGBY TRI-NATIONSAustralia 16 South Africa 9AUSTRALIA CAN still improve, coach Robbie Deans said after his side opened their Tri-Nations campaign with a 16-9 win over the world champions on Saturday.
Deans said it was "a job well done against a side we have a lot of respect for" but that the Wallabies could do better against New Zealand next Saturday in Sydney.
Deans, himself a New Zealander, is in his first season in charge of Australia and said he was looking forward to meeting his compatriots.
"There's a lot of scope for improvement in the details and we can add to what we did do right tonight," he said. "There's the opportunity for growth.
"I suspect next week will be very special and there'll be a fair amount of banter. But I'm looking forward to it and we'll see what we can make of it."
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said the defeat was a bitter pill: "There's a lot of hurt because we are not losers. We did not foresee this happening; we expected a better contest. This is not the best thing to happen to us."
The Springboks return to South Africa having won once, against New Zealand in Dunedin, and lost twice, in Wellington and Perth, on their away leg of the Tri-Nations.
"We're not very satisfied with our tour because we came here to try and win all our games. It's not that easy, but it's what we came to do. But now we can go back home and build on that," De Villiers said.
Australia scored two tries, through centre Stirling Mortlock and wing Lote Tuqiri, and Deans praised both efforts.
"We took another step forward in terms of execution today. For Lote's try, we got in behind the Springboks and that created the stress in defence. The guys were then skilled enough to get the ball to Lote. That was a good piece of play," he said.
Mortlock's try came when the Australian skipper muscled his way through three tackles.
"That try epitomised the effort today, that desire to get over the line," Deans added. "It was a tough encounter and I really took a liking to the pride the players showed, their willingness to engage and defend."
The Springboks, who the previous weekend in Dunedin had ended New Zealand's five-year unbeaten run at home, were tormented by a host of errors and a failure to convert chances.
The Australian loose trio, led by Rocky Elsom, gave a commanding display at the breakdown, winning a steady supply of quick ball.
South Africa won an early penalty, converted by centre Francois Steyn, but Australia led from the 35th minute after Tuqiri's try.
Mortlock scored five minutes after half-time, outhalf Matt Giteau kicked a penalty and centre Berrick Barnes added the finishing touches with a late drop goal.
Steyn added another penalty for South Africa, as did the outhalf Butch James.
The Springboks wasted clear try-scoring chances in the first half and lurched from error to error throughout.
The Wallabies also had a high error count in the first half, but scored after lock Nathan Sharpe stole a lineout. Flank George Smith took a deep lineout throw and put wing Peter Hynes through a gap. After recycling the ball, it was just a matter of shipping it to Tuqiri on the left wing.
Mortlock's try gave Australia a flying start to the second half.
Giteau kicked his penalty five minutes later, prompting a flurry of activity from the Springboks, but two penalties were all they could garner.
Barnes put the result beyond doubt in the final minute.
AUSTRALIA:Ashley-Cooper; Hynes, Mortlock, Barnes, Tuqiri; Giteau, Burgess; Robinson, Moore, Baxter; Horwill, Sharpe; Elsom, Smith, Palu. Replacements: Polota-Nau, Dunning, McMeniman, Waugh, Cordingley, Cross, Mitchell.
South Africa:Jantjes; Pietersen, Steyn, de Villiers, Habana; James, Januarie; Steenkamp, Brits, van der Linde; Botha, Matfield; Burger, Smith, Spies. Replacements: Strauss, Mtawarira, Mujati, Bekker, Kankowski, Pienaar, Grant.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand).
