The scoreline says the Austin Blacks won 29-10 over Dallas, but that doesn't tell you everything.

Austin Head Coach Lachlan Ferguson was not pleased with the performance, singling out his forwards for a particularly lackluster day.

"I think we had a hangover from Fort Lauderdale," Ferguson said, referring to his team's Ruggerfest victory a week ago. "I think this was a wakeup call. We made a lot of errors and just didn't play well. But having said that, we did score five tries, and we did win against a much improved Dallas team."

Ferguson said he didn't have to say much to his squad, which takes ownership of their performances.

"I guess one measure of a good team is that it can win when it's not playing its best, and we did that," he said. "The guys know that with me, if you try something, and it doesn't work, I won't get upset, but if you don't try something, you'll get a boot up the backside. We did have some positives today, and I am glad we won, but we have work to do."