Bitter pill for empty-handed Wallabies

Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie was left frustrated with the way his team wilted in the last 10 minutes against the Springboks at Newlands.

Having shown great defensive commitment to soak up what at times was relentless pressure from the home side, the Wallabies conceded three late tries which inflated the scoreline in what had been a highly competitive match.

McKenzie said the end result was particularly disappointing considering how his side had held out for the first 70 minutes, and did not accurately reflect how close they had been to the Springboks.

"The effort was outstanding in the first half, at half-time we set ourselves up and it was always going to be difficult and I guess we were still there at the 70 minute mark, but to let three tries in at the end was a really disappointing finish and probably an unfair reflection on the effort the team had put in.

"We had to fight hard, the penalty count was 12-4 against us and we didn't have much possession but we defended well and when they took the option to try line-out drives against us I thought we showed a lot of character.

"There was some really good stuff from our guys, we set the game up but just couldn't go on with it.

"I thought we were really competitive, and the final scoreline didn't reflect that which is disappointing," he said.

Whilst they were impressive on defence until the Springboks' dominance in possession finally told, the Wallabies only scored one try and did not manage to score any points in the second half.

"We had chances out there but we weren't clever enough or good enough to get over the line, we got bloody close but we didn't get over the line.

"We were running at brick walls there for a while and we chose some moments to change that situation but it didn't. I thought we got it right at times but we will get better at that," said McKenzie.

The Wallabies coach admitted that his side did not make things any easier for themselves in the final stages by conceding too many turnovers, but added that he expected the players who came off the bench to have more composure.

"Three or four turnovers at the right time just gives you a mountain of tackles to make. They improved at the end and our tackling had been outstanding for the first 60 minutes, so I felt for the players that had set the game up.

"It is a Test match and you are going to be under pressure, we have got a lot of experienced players and a lot of the players we brought off the bench were really experienced players so I don't think there is any reason to expect that you are not going to maintain composure," he said.

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper said that while his side had executed their gameplan, they were simply not able to keep up with the rampant Boks at the end.

"Their bench was quality, came on and got a lot of carries, got over the advantage line and got around the corner so we couldn't keep up with them.

"We took their attack and brought their maul down, all the things we talked about, and it was disappointing to not continue with that for another 40 minutes so we will have to have a look at that.

"We thought that they were at home so they would try and play a bit with the ball, and they stated that intent early by going for the line so we were ready for the challenge and we competed on the ground well but then they got around us in the end," he said.

By Michael de Vries