29 September 2026
Flanker Paul de Villiers says the Springboks are treating their agonising 42-38 defeat against the Wallabies as fuel for a massive November fightback.
Despite the bitter sting of the loss, the flanker insists the squad grabbed critical tactical lessons out of the Perth pressure cooker.
“We always learn, and of course we like to learn while winning, but sometimes you learn more by losing. We’re not done. There are still a couple of games coming up in November, and for the Nations Championship we’re going to go all in and make sure we do everything we can to win that trophy. We’re committed to that.”
A shaky first half ultimately left the Boks chasing the game after a string of disciplinary slip-ups gave Australia the upper hand. De Villiers acknowledged that the Wallabies effectively exploited South Africa’s unforced errors to build their early momentum.
“We’re never happy losing in a Springbok jersey. I thought they put us in scenarios where we conceded a lot of penalties, especially in the first half, and we got into a situation where we had to chase the game. Don’t get me wrong, they were good on the day. But if you look at some of the stages we got to, we made a lot of errors, and that kind of shows perhaps why we lost the game.”
Despite the scoreboard deficit, the Boks refused to lie down and launched a ferocious late-game onslaught. The relentless fightback fell just four points short, but showcased the gritty resilience of the depth-building squad.
“That said, we’re obviously proud of the fight in the last couple of minutes. We really worked together to try to win the match.”
Looking ahead, the tour provided invaluable hemisphere reconnaissance for a greenhorn contingent experiencing Australian conditions for the first time. With the Rugby World Cup looming next year, this bruising encounter serves as a foundational building block for the world champions.
“It was nice for us to be in Perth and Terrigal. A couple of us were in Australia for the first time. We are coming back next year, so it was a valuable outing. Getting to experience the place, the people, the stadium, and playing here was extremely valuable going into the World Cup next year.”
