While he was satisfied with his team's winning performance in Durban at the weekend, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers knows there's still work to do if they hope to lift the Tri-Nations trophy.

South Africa defeated New Zealand 31-19, earning their second successive victory over the All Blacks to stretch their lead at the top of the log.

But with only one home game remaining - against Australia in Cape Town on Saturday - before they play three matches overseas, De Villiers said he expected more from the world's top ranked side.

The coach - who said there was "still room for improvement" - refused to predict whether they would lift the trophy for the first time since 2004.

"We've only won two games and there are still four games to be played," De Villiers said.

"After the next few games we can talk again about that, but the platform is there and we know where to work from.

"Next week's going to be a different kettle of fish and everything starts again Monday after they've celebrated a lot of things in this team, especially the two 50s and the world record of 60 caps from the captain."

John Smit earned his 60th cap as skipper to become the most experienced international captain of all time, while wing Bryan Habana and centre Jean de Villiers earned their 50th caps at the weekend.

Those milestones had dominated the headlines in the build-up to the Test, but Smit said their lack of focus on personal achievements had been crucial in securing victory.

The skipper said they knew they had to turn up in even better form than in Bloemfontein the previous week if they were to remain unbeaten in the tournament.

"We came up with a little more intensity this week. We didn't expect the same result with the same amount of effort we put in last week, so we had to up the ante this week," Smit said.

"We could very well have fallen into the trap of expecting [to win], which is probably the biggest trap there is out there at the moment.

"But credit to the guys' attitudes and the way they approached the game. There wasn't a hoo-ha made about fifties and sixties and birthdays.

"There was just an emphasis on the team effort and I think that's what gave us the dividends."

365

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