All Blacks coach Graham Henry was gracious in defeat, after his side went down 19-28 to the Springboks in a Tri-Nations Test in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

However, he also bemoaned his team's "lack of discipline", which he felt contributed to their downfall.

"I first of all want to congratulate South Africa on their victory," Henry said at the post-match media conference.

"They were the better team and deserved to win," he added.

Although Henry thought there were many positives for his side and that they at times played some good rugby "the Springboks played better than us."

He added: "There are no excuses. We have no complaints about the altitude or the turnaround time between last week's Test [against the Wallabies] and today's.

"This is a very good Springbok side. They deserve to be No.1 in the world," he said - but pointed out that he didn't know how the ratings worked and that it could easily change again if his side won the Test in Durban next weekend.

"We needed more composure and discipline and should've created more opportunities. A side can't afford to make errors when you have the ball. We lost the battle, but not the war," Henry said.

His captain Richie McCaw said he felt the All Blacks were getting on top at one stage in the second half, but "were forced into mistakes".

"There are things you just cannot afford to do in Test matches," he said about the many turnovers in the tackle and handling errors.

McCaw was disappointed with the discipline, but was convinced that his side were up there with the physicality of the Springboks.

365

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