Solid groundwork built Bok glory
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer pointed to his side's improved effort at the breakdown as the key to their convincing second-half display against England.
Meyer said that once his team started making good quality ball available they were able to stamp their authority on the opposition after a tense first half marked by stout defence from both sides.
He said: "Obviously we have to look at the breakdown, we didn't get quality ball in the first half, in the second half I thought we got great ball.
"I thought the defence from both sides was awesome, the first half was a real battle out there, and although I am happy with our defence that last try was unnacceptable.
"We have got high standards so obviously we want to improve on this but I thought it was a really tough Test match so we are happy to have pulled through," added Meyer.
The Bok coach admitted that there were some harsh words spoken at the half-time break, and said that he was very pleased with the way his team managed to kick into gear once they secured front-foot possession.
"I am very emotional and sometimes I lose it so I must say that Jean [De Villiers] was brilliant at half-time. I just said to the forwards it is not good enough and we needed to get stuck in, because I wanted them to up the tempo and get better cleans to allow our ball-carriers to get into the game.
"At some stages I really thought we played great rugby, we moved the ball around and I was happy with the result, but we butchered one or two tries and you need to finish those in Test match rugby.
"I think that this team has been so great from the start, they have got very high standards, so although there were some hard words they knew that they had to step up in the second half," he said.
Meyer said that England's tactical kicking had been superior in the first half and added that he was particularly pleased with the way his side had managed to adapt after being put under pressure in the opening 40 minutes.
"I thought that England were brillant in the way that they put pressure on the nine [scrumhalf], and they pressed very hard in midfield so we made a few changes to our tactical kicking in the second half which worked.
"I thought the first 20 minutes they pressed very hard and we should have played more tactically but the plan was always to open up the game in the second half.
"I thought England's tactical kicking was much better than ours in the first half, they put the ball in behind us and moved us around so we couldn't get any quick ball or momentum, but once we changed things in the second half it went much better," he said.
The Bok mentor said the substitution of Zane Kirchner at half-time had been precautionary, but pointed out that the impact of the replacements had always been part of the plan to overwhelm the visitors in the second half.
"We said from the start that we were going to use the whole bench, it is a huge risk but we wanted to up the tempo of the game and a lot of these guys played tough rugby a week ago so we knew that England would be fresh coming over.
"Zane [Kirchner] was injured at half-time and a lot of the other guys were impact players and we needed them to up the tempo and get us going forward," Meyer explained.
The Bok coach said that he is unlikely to change his team up for the second Test in Johannesburg next week as he was happy with the performace considering the pressure of the occasion and he is keen for the combinations he assembled for his first Test in charge to develop.
"I have said to the players that I don't believe in giving out jerseys, if you play for this team I don't believe in chances – you earn a chance and I will stick with the same team, I don't think we have a lot of time.
"I want these guys to get more confidence and gain more experience as a team so I will stick with the side. Obviously we will take a look at England and might make one or two tweaks but there will not be a lot of changes.
"The next Test will be much tougher but luckily the nerves are gone now, a lot of the guys really put up their hands and I am very happy with the win so I think that next week is going to be unbelievable," he said.
By Michael de Vries, in Durban
