The New Zealand team and management were full of praise for South Africa's performance, after the Springboks's 31-19 Tri-Nations win over the All Blacks in Durban on Saturday.

However, the Kiwis were also quick to point out that the Tri-Nations series has not been won or lost yet and they are confident they can come back - despite convincing back-to-back defeats against the Boks.

Both captain Richie McCaw and assistant coach Steve Hansen said they will look to bounce back in their three remaining matches - of which two are in New Zealand.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry called the South Africa performance "outstanding".

It was the second successive Test the South Africans had triumphed over the All Blacks - following last week's 28-19 win in Bloemfontein - and Henry, who congratulated Bok coach Peter de Villiers and captain John Smit, said his team would need to learn to deal with pressure situations.

"I thought the South Africans played outstandingly well," Henry said.

"I'd like to congratulate Peter and John and the team. I thought they were excellent - better than last week, which made it difficult.

"If we had taken some of the opportunities we created it may have been a bit closer and a better contest.

"We didn't execute as well as we'd hoped but I think that's a sign of pressure. Obviously, we've got to work on that and make sure we improve our execution as the season goes on."

All Black captain Richie McCaw admitted that the Boks got on top of then through applying constant pressure.

"We always knew it was going to be tough, but through their pressure we made vital mistakes, as we did last week," he said, adding that "you just can't afford that".

He spoke of the SA kicking game, which kept the Kiwis pinned inside their own territory.

"They got guys right across the backline that can kick the ball and they kicked really well," McCaw said.

"If you get pinned in your own half and forced to play a bit too much rugby there, you are forced into mistakes. The pressure builds all the time as they score the three-pointers."

He also spoke of the battle at the breakdown and on defence, which the Boks won.

"They got big boys on defence and they attack the breakdown. When you get slow ball your attack becomes pretty flat-footed."

The other big problem was the line-outs, where Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha again reigned supreme.

"Yeah, they are a problem," McCaw said of the line-outs.

"We put a lot of work in this week, but we are up against the best in the world, with Victor Matfield and his mates there.

"When you can't win first phase it makes it tough to get your game going."

But he promised a better effort from the All Blacks in the second half of the tournament.

"We got a couple of weeks off now," McCaw said, adding: "We just going to have to put the work in and make sure we get it right.

"There's obviously a few games to go yet and it is not insurmountable [to come back and win the tournament].

"It is disappointing [the two defeats], but we were in a similar situation last year.

"You just got to regroup and keep believing in yourselves.

"We got three games to go and we just have to make sure we are ready to play those ones."

Hansen was adamant that the All Blacks can still win the Tri-Nations.

With just three games remaining, one of which is a trip to Australia to take on the Wallabies, the All Blacks now have it all to do if they are to hold on to their Tri-Nations crown.

However, Hansen feels that a successful title defence is still a possibility.

"They [the New Zealand players] made a huge effort all match, the desire is there, you can see that definitely in their defensive effort. We will have to guts it out and go away and work hard and get better," Hansen said.

"We're not looking for any excuses. South Africa are the world champions and they are playing like it at the moment. They have good players across the park.

"But the Tri-Nations is still on. We lost two games last year and we still have two games at home and a game in Australia."

365

RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook
LATEST FEATURES
No admiration, no clue (c) AFP A cycling spat boils over, everybody has an opinion on Man City, and praise for the Boks?
It's wide open, says BJ iafrica.com columnist BJ Botha reckons that the Tri-Nations is wide open this year...
'Biff' opens up (c) AFP SA skipper Graeme Smith opened up about everything from earning potential to match-fixing on Wednesd