'No team's ever played a perfect game' - Lood keeps Boks grounded after impressive NZ slaying

The Springboks might have lapped up the plaudits from their first home win over the All Blacks in eight years in Mbombela but they don't believe they played the perfect game.

Lood de Jager believes the concept is non-existent in the sport anyway, no matter how impressive they were in their 26-10 win in Mpumalanga.

The Boks scored two tries, dominating at least 70 minutes of play before New Zealand hit back through Shannon Frizell when SA was already a man down after Kurt-Lee Arendse's sending-off.

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Jacques Nienaber's charges neutered the All Black counter-attacking threat. And when the visitors had clean breaks, very few led to meaningful attacks, bar Caleb Clarke's burst that resulted in their only try.

"The thing with rugby is, I don't think there's ever been a team that's played the perfect game," said De Jager, who was crucial in the lineout.

"It's a game with a lot of collisions, a lot of moving parts and you don't always get everything right.

"We strive to play the best game possible but there will always be things in rugby you can work on and that's why, this week, we will take a hard look at ourselves, where we were good and be better in those areas.

"And put a big emphasis on the areas that we feel we can really improve on and try our best to put on our best performance on Saturday."

South Africa

15 Damian Willemse, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche 

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent