Springbok captain John Smit said he'll settle for a 2-1 series win over the British and Irish Lions after his side lost the third Test 28-9 at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Paul O'Connell's men gave a clinically committed performance against a disjointed and lethargic Springbok side to not only ensure that they would not be the first Lions to be whitewashed on a tour of South Africa, but also match the record Test score set by Willie John McBride's 1974 side.
The loss was also South Africa's first defeat in Johannesburg - where they won the 1995 World Cup - for eight years.
The men in red outscored their hosts by three tries to nil, putting on an emphatic performance that kept South Africa out of the game from start to finish.
Although the Springboks had the satisfaction of winning the series by having taken the first two Tests, Saturday's comprehensive defeat will serve to highlight just how close it was.
"It would have been nice to create a little bit of history with a 3-0 series whitewash," said Smit.
"It was a great series, and a fantastic (series) win but we obviously very disappointed to have lost this match. Fair play to the Lions though, they deserved the victory."
The Boks appeared on the field sporting white armbands bearing the slogan 'Justice 4' in support of banned team-mate Bakkies Botha and they played as though they were distracted by other issues.
Their kicking was not as effective as in the previous two internationals and instead of driving up the intensity of their defence and control of the ball they slipped a few notches more.
"I don't think the guys were in the right frame of mind. Evidence of that was in the rucks and mauls," said Smit.
"But we'll take the series win and in ten or twenty years time, we can look back at all of this and have a lot of fond memories."
The Boks' coaches almost contrived to give it away in the first Test in Durban, the only game in which John Smit's men played anywhere near the standard they are capable of, and the second was only won thanks to Morné Steyn's long-range penalty right at the death.
"All the guys have mixed emotions, to win the series and then lose a Test is a bitter pill to swallow," said Smit.
"But if you ask any of the players after the World Cup if they were offered a 2-1 series win over the Lions, they would have taken it.
"However, we have to be quite frank... the Lions were all over us in every department today. They took us off the ball and we didn't respect our own ball enough.
"So all credit to them, we didn't have a chance.
"But we'll be able to look back at this game and fill the gaps and make sure we get a better balance going forward."
Saturday's comprehensive defeat provided the Lions with some statistical solace in that over the series they outscored the Boks by seven tries to five and by 74 points to 63.
Coach Peter de Villiers was gracious in defeat, complimenting his opposition on a job well done.
"We are grateful that we won the series - it was our goal," he said.
"But we lost today - that's international rugby for you. They were very good on the day and I've maintained this is a brilliant Lions team. We need to honour them for how they played on the day.
The Bok coach was asked about all the changes he made to his team for this Test and said it was a successful experiment.
"How will you know what you have, if you do not take chances?
"We have a very important Tri-Nations ahead and I learnt a lot from my players today.
"We struggled to get on the front foot, but the guys out there are still good players. I'm more clear in my head about certain players now."
By Dave Morris in Johannesburg
Comments
fonz says...
Awesome performance by the BIL, but a reminder: with the series won, SA could afford to take it sfoot off the pedal and play with selection. SA won the series, end of story. The BIL played their hearts out and (on the field) were a superb advertisement for the game, but lost the series. In heaven's name can we stop the carping and politicking. The series was one of the best in memeory, includin gthe 3rd.
And pleeeeease could someone get rid of PDV??? Imagine if the BIL had had him and the Boks had had Geech, bad loser though he is.
Posted 21:30 06th July 2009
Greencor says...
I agree with adrian...get rid of De Villiers and maybe we can won the Tri Nations.
Posted 19:32 06th July 2009
adrian says...
Fire de Villiers asap!! This man has proved to be an embarrassmenrt to South Africa's rugby fraternity. It was initially admitted by Oregan Hoskins that his appointment was not based on the best man for the job, so it is now time to grasp the nettle and use our best resources available. This is the only wat we can succeed in the tri nations and onward. It must be wonderful to be able to concentrate solely on playing winning rugby, and not all the lunacy we have saddled ourselves with.
Posted 09:33 06th July 2009
adethesteam2009 says...
What a fantastic performance by the B+I Lions, the SA Squad might have won the series, (by a very tight margin) but we came out victorious and one in the eye for the doom makers who wrongly predicted a 3-0 whitewash, you played brilliantly boys and are a credit to the UK.
Posted 13:42 05th July 2009