Australia coach Robbie Deans praised his side's resilience after they fought back from a first half deficit to beat South Africa.
Australia coach relieved after comeback win
Australia coach Robbie Deans has praised his side's resilience after they fought back from a first half deficit to beat South Africa on Saturday.
Second half tries from Scott Higginbotham and Ben Alexander saw the Wallabies to their first win in the Rugby Championship as they beat the Boks 26-19 in Perth.
Bryan Habana had put the Springboks ahead on 20 minutes when he went over from close range and the visitors had ended the opening period with a 13-6 lead.
But the home side fought back after the break and Higginbotham and Alexander's scores plus a fine kicking display from Berrick Barnes saw Australia to victory.
"We struggled to get out of our end and we contributed to a large part of that, so it was frustrating," said Deans.
Criticized
"But the boys made progress and their response to adversity was superb. I was proud of the courage they showed to be three times behind and work their way back."
Winger Dom Shipperley, who was making his test debut for Australia, said it was great for the Wallabies to get back into a try scoring habit.
"The team has been criticized in the past for not scoring enough tries," he said winger. "So to score two in one test, especially against South Africa, is pretty good and I guess to come from behind and just grind it out."
South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer said that inexperience was to blame his side's loss and that errors had cost the Springboks the match.
"I thought the first 60 minutes we really executed well and really put them under pressure," he said. "But there were two soft moments in the game that cost us.
"At this level away from home, you can't make those mistakes."
