Heyneke Meyer was delighted to finish South Africa's November tour with a victory at Twickenham and credited his side's defence.
A try from Willem Alberts proved crucial in the game but in truth it was the Springboks' hardened defence that saw them defeat England.
"I thought it was a hard-fought battle," said Meyer.
"The defence of both sides was awesome - there were a lot of youngsters in our side in front of a passionate 80,000 crowd. I said to Jean that not too long ago we would have lost that kind of game by 20 points, so it's a reflection on how our team has grown.
"A lot of our players could not train this week and there was definitely a swing in the momentum at the end of the match. England was getting the penalties and they were starting to get good ball.
"It's easy to throw the ball around and score great tries, but defence wins trophies and you have to dig deep. We're not used to playing in these conditions - some of our players have never been to Scotland or England.
"It's been a long season, possibly one game too far, but the youngsters have thrived in training. You have to win away games if you want to win trophies and we've shown that we can do that."
Captain Jean de Villiers was also happy with his side's defensive effort, describing his side as the best defensive outfit in world rugby.
"We pride ourselves on our defence and I think defensively we're right up there with the best, if not the best," said De Villiers.
"We've conceded one try in three matches and the attitude our guys have shown, you can't coach that. Every guy stood up to be counted and that makes me proud as a captain."
Comments
zambokke says...
I agree with everyone, but please put it into context - this was a young team and HM was probably forced to play more conservitely becuase of the lack of trust/experience. I am sure that things will get better when the injured return. We set out from SA with a young side and returned undefeated with a lot of luck and hard work. The young guys will be better going forward. Remember what happened to Enland's young side back inthe 90's when the toured the SH?!
Posted 09:27 28th November 2012
rolf says...
Dear all. You are right: that was far from an impressive bokside.
yet they won all.
And the ones we wanted to see play were not available (for Jaystarr: admittedly except Gio). still they won.
And yes: they need to urgently develop and train a more refined backline play. Do they have the talent? i have noot seen it. JdV, JdJ, fourie, Frans and whoever are not the future of creative bokbackline. face it.
So bear wit Meyer and maayyybe come rwc 2015....
Posted 20:35 27th November 2012
PREEST says...
Why is he proud? What is he proud of? Three narrow wins? They shouldn't have even beaten England if it had not been for that lucky try. A narrow win over Ireland after trailing 12-3, and then a scrappy win over Scotland which included a lucky intercept try? If he is proud then he does not have high expectations for SA. As the second best team in the world, that was an average tour. Yes they went unbeaten, but not always deservedly so, and the wins they got were scrappy. Like another poster said, If the ABs had had similar results, it would have been a disaster tour. As a Kiwi, the second half of the Welsh game was a disaster to watch. We took our foot off the gas and only scored 10 points, while they out scored us 2 tries to 1 in the second half.
Posted 06:45 26th November 2012
melkdave says...
HM has reason to be proud of his team,they go home unbeaten after all.But he still has alot of work infront of him,yes they can defend ,but they need to attack effectivly if they are ever to topple the ABs .That atm looks along way off imo,can he do it hopefully.
Posted 23:45 25th November 2012
bigb6969 says...
"subjective rather than objective " Reffing the scrum always is.
Ultimately winnings is the pass mark.
But if NZ had made the same tour, and got the exactly the same scores as South Africa (narrow wins) I think we would have felt like we lost. Winning 33-10 over Wales, 23 points over the 6 nations champions, yet most of NZ, well the people I know, thought they sucked. We are angry we did not win by 50, especially being up 33 nil, and reffing actually favour NZ for once.
Posted 22:22 25th November 2012
joekridge says...
This was a gruelling game where open-wide passing and interplay was extremely difficult. England were very unlucky. Jeremy Guscott wasn't prepared to make a prediction over on bbc...good call JG. Nigel Owens gave England just about every 50/50 call...he was subjective rather than objective in his interpretation at scrum time. Bottom line- as a bok fan I'll take that win with much pride.This was a very good and motivated England side.
Posted 09:47 25th November 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
Well done South Africa, you won, thats all that counts.
Wonder what the odds are now of drawing England in the pools for 2015, must about be due again?!
Posted 05:13 25th November 2012
Kiwidiver says...
Oh yeah HM?!? Easy to throw the ball around and score great tries eh?!? Not under your coaching it's not.
I think South Africa and the rest of the world would actually like to see you utilize some of the backline talent at your disposal, and start throwing the ball around...
Can't deny the success of great defensive teams though ..... nee Stormers
Posted 00:11 25th November 2012
boksmashoffice says...
I am sorry HM, You must kidding yourself. We played a very poor English team who had less ideas than us.We only won because of the freakish try scored by Alberts. We were defending for so much of the match. We hardly made any scoring opportunities, against the aussies or Ab's we would lose because they would tear us to pieces with good quality ball. You can spin the tour to be a success on results, IMO the tour was not a success based on
1. Performance ( our guys don't know how to play), they seem confused on what they have to do
2. Do our guys have the basic skills set? running lines, passing skills (i would argue no). This is what we have to aspire to
3.Player development ( how many new caps were given)?
Maybe my expectations are too high.
Posted 23:44 24th November 2012
SACanuck says...
Always as story. Boks should never lose to the NH teams but they do. It's been 4 years since they won all matches played in the NH which is great to see, but for some reason I keep comparing myself to a NZ supporter. They are shocked when the AB's lose and I am supprised win the Boks win.
Posted 22:02 24th November 2012
peks53 says...
How did we get to no. 2 in the world?? Get rid of Pienaar, he is useless!!
Posted 21:20 24th November 2012
letsgoboks says...
Just tackling for the last 30 minutes in a game is not good.#
Scoring tries wins matches ... which leads to trophys.
Posted 20:01 24th November 2012