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Cape Town - He didn't have much of a part to play, but Warren Whiteley was as disappointed as anyone following Saturday's 26-20 loss to Ireland at Newlands.
It is the first time in history that the Boks have lost to Ireland on home soil, and that they did so playing the majority of the match against 14 men is even harder to take if you are South African.
Whiteley gave Cape Town journalist a glimpse into what the mood in the change-room was like following the match ... and it wasn't pretty.
"We’re bitterly disappointed. It was a very somber change-room afterwards," he said.
"We let ourselves down and also the country down. There’s a big step up to be made and that’s starting tomorrow (Monday)."
Whiteley, who came on as a substitute in the second half, added that the squad felt particularly bad for letting coach Allister Coetzee down in his first match in charge.
"You need to believe in what you’re doing and you need to stick to it," he said.
"Coach Allister spoke about that last night. We believe in his vision and his plan and we’re 100% in it and we’re going to work extremely hard.
"We know that we let him down as a coach in his first Test match at Newlands. We let ourselves down and we let the country down so we need to rectify that."
The Boks left for Johannesburg on Sunday, where they will take on Ireland in the second Test this Saturday.
