Ralepelle: We need more fire

South Africa's Tri-Nations campaign did not get off to best of starts as they were on the receiving end of a 39-20 shellacking at the hands of Australia in Sydney.

Ralepelle, who scored his maiden Test try during the defeat, said that the Boks could not afford to wallow in self-pity.

"It doesn't get any easier but the important thing for us is to re-group and instil that self-belief again. We need to get the Springbok pride going and make sure that we get up in the All Black's faces," Ralepelle said.

"Going up against the All Blacks next week we need to make sure that we fire even more up front because I felt we didn't have that Springbok fire that we usually have when we played Australia," he added.

The 24-year-old Ralepelle came off the bench in the 57th minute of the Springbok defeat and he played a part in a small revival which saw the visitors fight their way back from 39-6 down to end the match only 19 points behind thanks to two late tries.

However, Ralepelle said the fact he had scored his first Test try was scant consolation for the way that he, and his team, had played.

"One can never be proud because, at the end of the day, we didn't pull off a win. We allowed them to play and we just made too many mistakes which is something that you can't do as this level but it shows what a quality side Australia are," he explained.

Ralepelle said that the Boks showed what they were capable of during the final 20 minutes of the Australia Test, which was the way South Africa had expected to play throughout the match.

"The most important thing was getting the guys together, getting back to our structure and making sure that it didn't continue being an open game. When we kept to our structure in the last 20 minutes we defended really well," he said.

"You don't go onto the pitch expecting to get beaten up. We (had) wanted to do what we were taught to do over the last three weeks," he expanded.

On a personal note Ralepelle felt that he was starting to reap the benefits of managing to stay fit for the majority of Bulls' Super Rugby campaign.

Ralepelle had to endure an injury-ravaged season last year but, after undergoing a structured conditioning and injury management programme, has played some of his best rugby in 2011.

"I had a good Super 15, one of the better Super Rugby seasons I have had. I had fewer injuries and I was able to spend more time on the park.

"At the end of the day, the more time you spend on the field the easier things become as you build your self confidence," he concluded.