Declan Kidney, the Ireland coach, lamented his team's mistakes in their 22-15 defeat by Australia in Brisbane. "We made too many errors, especially when we were attacking, and that was frustrating," said Kidney. "We defended stoutly but that left us short of energy at the end when we were trying to claw something back - in the end the result probably flattered us. "There is now more competition for places and whoever plays well next season will get to wear the shirt." Quade Cooper and Matt Giteau shared the goalkicking duties and 17 points in the one-off Test. Cooper kicked two penalties and scored a critical try which let Australia take a 16-15 lead into half-time. Giteau, who missed his only shot at goal before the break, kicked two penalties in the second half to seal Australia's victory and sustain their 31-year winning streak over Ireland on home soil. "I think we drew 20-20 with them last year and played a lot better in that match," Australia captain Rocky Elsom said. "I think we weren't sharp enough in attack tonight. " Elsewhere, Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, praised the character of his players after their hard-fought 29-10 loss to New Zealand in Hamilton. Just a week after capitulating 42-9 against the same opponents in Dunedin, the visitors went the distance with the All Blacks and even scored a late try thanks to Jamie Roberts, finishing their season on a more positive note. "The pleasing thing about today's performance is that the All Blacks tend to get stronger from game to game, particularly at the start of their campaigns, and these guys could have thought about getting on the plane tomorrow and going on holiday for six weeks and they didn't do that," Gatland said. Richie McCaw, the All Blacks coach, had mixed views on the game. "It was a bit frustrating. It would have been nice to build pressure and score tries." Morne Steyn, the fly-half, finished with 26 points for South Africa in a 55-11 victory over Italy in East London which gave the Springboks a 2-0 series win. Bryan Habana, the winger, scored his 38th try in test rugby, equalling the South African record held by the former Springbok scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen. "I'm sure he's got many more to go," said John Smith, the South Africa captain. * Agencies