'Far from perfect' Springboks fixing their own issues before pinpointing All Blacks' chinks

Except for the fact that they'll always respect their great foes, the Springboks also aren't preoccupying themselves with the All Blacks' vulnerable state because they themselves aren't on the most stable of ground currently.

South Africa go into next week's Rugby Championship opener at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on the back of a 2-1 series win over Wales that, in particular, exposed their inability to turn periods of dominance into points and a penchant for sloppiness - a major reason for the Dragons leading 18-3 at half-time at Loftus.

Unsurprisingly, to quote the Scripture, the Boks have first cast the beam out of their collective eye before pointing out the mote stuck in the New Zealanders'.

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"We weren't perfect against the Welsh by any stretch of the imagination," said national coach Jacques Nienaber.

"We tried to build during the series. The important thing for us is to control our shortcomings and focus on fixing our game. There's a lot we need to work on and we had a nice review of where we are currently at. 

"In some instances we showed some growth and others not. Our goal is to improve, to get better. Having not played for a while before we played against Wales, we got a bit of a marker where we are."

Finding more rhythm and the accompanying cutting edge will be important as the All Blacks, who still showed how ruthless they can be in punishing mistakes during the first Test against Ireland, are likely to conjure a smoother, more high tempo game.

"It will probably be a little bit different to the challenge that Wales brought," said Nienaber.

"If you look at the athletes that they have and if you look at the skillset