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Cape Town - Springbok captain John Smit says too many missed tackles and turnovers proved to be their undoing against the All Blacks in Wellington.
The Boks were hammered 40-7, after trailing 18-7 at halftime.
The South Africans missed 24 tackles in total and lost possession at the breakdowns on six occasions - a statistic which captain Smit admitted was fatal for his side.
"Even though we played good rugby at stages during the game, you're always going to pay if you turn over possession at this level, and we certainly paid for that against these blokes," Smit was quoted as saying on the website, ESPNscrum.
"You also can't afford to miss so many tackles, which also cost us tonight."
Despite the big hammering, the Bok captain is positive for the future and believes the experienced gained on this tour will stand them in good stead in the future.
"It's always terrible to lose, especially against the All Blacks, but we will learn from this and just have to lift our game when we get back home.
"But we brought some young players over here and they would have grown immensely and would have seen what can be done with ball in hand."
The Boks were hammered 40-7, after trailing 18-7 at halftime.
The South Africans missed 24 tackles in total and lost possession at the breakdowns on six occasions - a statistic which captain Smit admitted was fatal for his side.
"Even though we played good rugby at stages during the game, you're always going to pay if you turn over possession at this level, and we certainly paid for that against these blokes," Smit was quoted as saying on the website, ESPNscrum.
"You also can't afford to miss so many tackles, which also cost us tonight."
Despite the big hammering, the Bok captain is positive for the future and believes the experienced gained on this tour will stand them in good stead in the future.
"It's always terrible to lose, especially against the All Blacks, but we will learn from this and just have to lift our game when we get back home.
"But we brought some young players over here and they would have grown immensely and would have seen what can be done with ball in hand."
