Springbok captain John Smit admitted that he has no idea why his team lacked their usual spark, in their 6-21 loss to Australia in Brisbane, but still expects his side to wrap up the Tri-Nations series against the All Blacks next Saturday.

And there was more bad news for the Boks, as coach Peter de Villiers revealed that star wing Bryan Habana is struggling with a tight hamstring - which forced him to leave the field in the first half of their encounter with Australia on Saturday.

"The risk of keeping him on was far greater than taking him off," he said.

But he was not willing to speculate if Habana will be available for SA's final Tri-Nations Test, against the Kiwis in Hamilton.

The biggest concern, according to Smit, was the team's inability to enforce itself on the opposition.

"The intensity was not quite where it should have been. It's hard to pinpoint where it went wrong. We had our moments and just couldn't put it together.

"Nevertheless, we still created pressure and they beat us at our own game.

"Obviously we started on a bad foot and kept chasing the score-line. It is healthy in the Tri-Nations to try and get into your opponents half. A lot of calls were not going our way.
Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't.

"But at half-time, at 9-6, we were happy because they were dominant and we felt we had made the best of a bad first forty.

"We came out in the second half and for a while it looked as if we might turn it around. But we didn't spend enough time in their half and create pressure.

"We looked up with eight minutes to play at creating those opportunities by setting up a drive, but were not given those opportunities. No one loses four on the trot [Wallabies] and just rocks up.

"They were far more formidable, but rest assured we will be fired up for our final game in Hamilton.

"But the good thing is we still have our fate in our own hands," said Smit.

De Villiers again spoke of his team's troubles in the scrums, where South Africa have struggled in recent weeks, and said it had become the "new grey area of rugby".

"It used to be the breakdown, now it is the scrum. You do not know which way it is going to go and sometimes it is more guesswork," he said.

The South Africans opened up the Australian defence a number of times and had a try of their own disallowed but failed to capitalise on their limited opportunities.

They spent most of the second half camped inside their own territory and the weight of pressure finally told in the last 20 minutes.

"Some you win, some you lose," said De Villiers.

"We had some moments of brilliance but we weren't clinical enough in our finishing.

"Well done to the Wallabies; they were brilliant at keeping us under pressure."