Boks look to learn from mistakes

'We can't play like that against France'

The Springboks readily admitted they were underdone in their somewhat fortuitous 29-15 win over Scotland in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, a win that gave South Africa a 2-0 series win.

While captain John Smit was full of praise for the Scots, who put up a far more credible performance than in the 36-16 loss in the first test in Durban, the Bok skipper also admitted that his team need to take Saturday's lessons to heart.

"If we look back to the way we played last week [in the first test in Durban] then we were below that standard," Smit said in his post-match reaction.

"We all knew it was going to be a bigger challenge this week.

"The Scots had obviously been doing a lot more homework. They certainly came out today a lot more physical. They contested the ball on the ground a lot more, so we had less room to move in.

"But all that counts now is the win and the 2-0 home win in the series," Smit added.

But when asked what he thought of the upcoming test against France, at Newlands next Saturday, he was very frank in his assessment.

"Every team in the top 10 poses a different threat and next week we'll have our challenges to face.

"A lot of preparation will have to go into in the test and how we play [next] Saturday.

"I certainly hope we'll be able to learn a lot more from what we did wrong today."

Bok lock Danie Rossouw, voted Man of the Match, also said the Boks will have to produce a far better performance against France or they could come unstuck.

"The Scots picked it [their game] up this week. They were certainly up for us this week," Rossouw said in reference to the first and second tests.

"But we should lift our game for next week, we can't play like that against France."