South Africa captain Chilliboy Ralepelle feels the team's defeat to Guinness Premiership champions Leicester Tigers at Welford Road oon Friday taught the new players a harsh lesson.

The Tri-Nations champs, who fielded nine uncapped players from the 37-man touring party, went down 17-22 to a motivated Tigers team ahead of Tests against France, Italy and Ireland.

Leicester's victory was all the more remarkable given the absence of five England players, and eight more through injury and unavailability while the Boks' plan of blooding a host of youngsters backfired.

The injury-prone Ralepelle also left the field in the opening quarter of the match due to a recurring ankle problem.

"It can't get worse from here," Ralepelle told Sky Sports. "It's a challenge for our youngsters as it was very new to play in these conditions.

"They have to learn that when you play away from home it's never easy. Leicester came at us very hard and were much more prepared than we were, I believe.

"We always knew the Leicester pack were going to be tough up front. They pride themselves on that in club rugby. But we let ourselves down in that department. I'm part of the pack so I include myself in that.

"One of the biggest disappointments for me is that we were all waiting for one man to create some magic.

"At this level you can't wait for someone to do that. If you can't do it yourself it's best that you sit at home."

While many of the young Springbok dirt-trackers did very little to stake a claim for a Test spot at Welford Road, Bok assistant coach Dick Muir insists the defeat will not raise questions about those on the edge of international selection.

"We know we have a lot of depth in South African rugby," said Muir. "We're a proud nation and sometimes you learn a little bit more from a loss than a win.

"If anything, there's probably a greater appreciation for what the Premiership has to offer. It was interesting to see some Kiwis [Leicester captain Aaron Mauger] singing the English anthem.

"Whenever you lose your captain you lose your way a bit, but our front row will have to take a long look at themselves."

Mauger, who moved to flyhalf to make room for a teenage centre pairing in Manu Tuilagi and Andy Forsyth, echoed Muir's sentiments that Leicester's remarkable performance confirmed the quality of the Guinness Premiership.

The veteran All Black was unimpressed by recent comments from compatriot Warren Gatland, now Wales head coach, that this season's Premiership was "the weakest he had ever seen since he came to the northern hemisphere"

"We don't really agree with some of the comments being put around about the Premiership being a weak competition," said Mauger.

"It's tough, week in, week out. Even Leeds and Worcester can beat anyone. We've always had a strong system with Academy players coming through to the senior ranks, and we had a full mix of that.

"The centres were awesome. Manu was always going to bring that physicality to the game but he and Andrew were very composed during the game.

"All the guys kept talking to them and got them through. They both have big futures in the game."