Coach Robbie Deans has paid tribute to Australia's resilience following their dramatic 41-39 victory over South Africa in Bloemfontein.
Aussie boss praises young side for historic Highveld win
Coach Robbie Deans has paid tribute to Australia's resilience following their dramatic 41-39 victory over South Africa in Bloemfontein.
The Wallabies weathered a furious fightback by the Springboks, who came from 31-6 down shortly before half-time to lead by a point with seconds to go.
But Kurtley Beale's 80th minute penalty ended a remarkable encounter at Vodacom Park, to give Australia their first win on the Highveld for 47 years.
"Overall, I was very pleased with the resilience shown by this side," said Deans
"This was the most experienced Bok side in history up against a young Wallabies side, so to achieve that landmark (a win on the Highveld) is significant. It will serve us well going forward."
Deans also praised the composure shown by Beale, whose earlier blunders had handed needless points to the world champions.
Humiliating
"I knew it was always going to be a good prospect with KB," he added.
"It must have been pretty humiliating to take a ball in the head in front of a capacity crowd, but he showed a lot to nail that kick."
Opposite number Peter de Villiers criticised the Sprinboks defence but singled out referee Alain Rolland's error prior to Drew Mitchell's late try as the turning point in the game.
"If we execute our plans perfectly, it will be very difficult to score against us," he said
"We needed to show more character on defence, like we did in Soweto and last week at Loftus. I think the turning point was the line-out where we got penalised.
Character
"The ball did not travel five metres and we were expecting them to be penalised for that, but instead we got penalised and they scored.
"While we can look for answers, the fact is that we can't afford to play catch-up two weeks in a row."
The under-fire Springbok boss insisted however, that his side were on the right track despite the latest defeat in a disappointing Tri-Nations campaign.
He added: "If you look at how we started this one, I think we showed character to come back.
"Our structures are in place and they can take us to World Cup if executed properly."
