Connolly defends lacklustre Wallabies' performance

Australia coach John Connolly has defended his team's disappointing display in last week's scrappy 20-18 Tri-Nations win over South Africa.

The Wallabies were criticised for their tactics but Connolly said the Springboks had not allowed them to play the way they wanted to after being crushed 49-0 by the Australians in their first meeting in this year's competition.

"There's no doubt we are not comfortable about putting on a game that people don't like," Connolly told reporters in Canberra.

"When we beat them 49-blot it was their greatest defeat ever by Australia. We employed the same tactics and it never worked out.

"There's no doubt the Springboks refused to play against us. We kicked a lot in the first half and 90-odd per cent of those kicks from our own defensive line, they got the ball and they kicked it back."

Connolly said he was surprised by the South African approach.

"We thought they would run it back at us but they did not. They kicked it back and waited for us to put it out.

"It was a battle of wills in terms of tactics and the game suffered but sport is about winning."

Australia flyhalf Stephen Larkham also chose to take a positive view of the match.

"What you have to understand is that we did win the game," Larkham said. "It was very ugly but we got out of the game what we wanted to get out of it, which was four points and still in with a chance of winning the Tri-Nations."

The Wallabies' next match in the competition is against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday.