Wallabies can improve: Deans

PERTH – Australia can still improve, coach Robbie Deans said after his side opened their Tri-nations campaign with a 16-9 win over world champions South Africa 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 countrymen next week.”There’s a lot of scope for improvement in the details and we can add to what we did do right tonight.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,” Deans told a media conference.Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow.”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 will now 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.Meanwhile, international player of the year Bryan Habana blamed himself for South Africa’s loss.The flying winger, one of the stars of South Africa’s World Cup triumph in France last year, came desperately close to scoring a try which would have levelled the scores with 14 minutes left of a grimly contested match.But he was denied by a last-ditch tackle from Wallabies’ replacement back Ryan Cross — one of three South African chances that went begging.”For the standards I set myself I feel I let the team down in that situation and I think I should have maybe finished off better after having played a lot of rugby,” Habana, 25, told reporters after the match.Nampa-ReutersDeans, himself a New Zealander, is in his first season in charge of Australia and said he was looking forward to meeting his countrymen next week.”There’s a lot of scope for improvement in the details and we can add to what we did do right tonight.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,” Deans told a media conference.Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow.”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 will now 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.Meanwhile, international player of the year Bryan Habana blamed himself for South Africa’s loss.The flying winger, one of the stars of South Africa’s World Cup triumph in France last year, came desperately close to scoring a try which would have levelled the scores with 14 minutes left of a grimly contested match.But he was denied by a last-ditch tackle from Wallabies’ replacement back Ryan Cross — one of three South African chances that went begging.”For the standards I set myself I feel I let the team down in that situation and I think I should have maybe finished off better after having played a lot of rugby,” Habana, 25, told reporters after the match.Nampa-Reuters