'More to come' from Aussies

Deans full of hope after opening win

Last updated: 19th July 2008

robbie deans

Deans: Another step forward

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Australia coach Robbie Deans believes there is further improvement to come after watching his side claim a 16-9 victory over South Africa in Perth.

It was the Wallabies' first match in this season's Tri-Nations and Deans was delighted with the performance as he presided over his fourth victory in as many matches since taking charge.

Lote Tuqiri and Stirling Mortlock scored crucial tries and Deans is already looking forward to taking on the All Blacks in Sydney next weekend.

"There's a lot of scope for improvement in the details and we can add to what we did do right tonight," Deans 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.

"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.

"(Mortlock's) try epitomised the effort today, that desire to get over the line. It was a tough encounter and I really took a liking to the pride the players showed, their willingness to engage and defend."

Opposite number Peter de Villiers was hugely disappointed with the performance following last week's thrilling victory over New Zealand, which has left South Africa with just five points from their three-match tour.

"There's a lot of hurt because we are not losers," he said. "We did not foresee this happening, we expected a better contest. This is not the best thing to happen to us.

"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."