Australia coach Robbie Deans has praised his side after Saturday's 39-20 Tri-Nations victory over South Africa.
We played some rugby this week says coach
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Australia coach Robbie Deans has paid tribute to his side in the wake of their 39-20 Tri-Nations victory over South Africa on Saturday.
The Wallabies were back to full strength for the clash at Sydney's Olympic Stadium - the scene of last week's humiliating defeat of their second string outfit by Samoa.
And while Deans said he was confident of an improvement on that performance, he also admitted he had been impressed how his side had bounced back in such style.
"I was confident we would be better (than last week) but you never presume," he said. "But the boys got the job done well.
"They adjusted their mentality, their body position and we played some rugby this week.
"The boys who played last week were better for it and the guys who didn't probably got a shot over the bow.
"Obviously, there were some combinations that came back together again, that all assisted."
Dominant
Deans reserved particular praise for fly-half Quade Cooper who played despite a stomach illness and was hugely influential during the match.
The Aussie playmaker, making his first Test appearance of the season, was dominant throughout the encounter and had a direct hand in three of the hosts' five tries.
"He did a good job," Deans added. "He carried very well and defended very well. You've got to dent the line. Get some momentum and play off it."
Captain Rocky Elsom was also pleased by the performance of the Wallaby backs saying: "They (the backs) looked pretty sharp when they got an opportunity,"
"At the crucial times we stood up. That was the most pleasing thing. It put us on the front foot, gave us the advantage."
Too many mistakes
John Smit, captain of an injury-ravaged Springbok side missing 20 front line players, said his side had made too many mistakes.
"They took full advantage of the ball we spilled. Gee, I would hate to look at our turnover stats and the ball we gave away," he said.
"They made good decisions with it as well and we rue those two tries in two minutes in the first half and three tries in eight minutes in the second.
"It looked like it was going to get ugly, but the boys managed to rein it in a little bit."
