Only ourselves to blame, says Smit

"The defence has been poor, the breakdown has been poor and our attack has been ordinary. We have a helluva lot to work on," Springbok captain John Smit summed up his team's miserable Tri-Nations tour after a third defeat here yesterday.

On the evidence of the last three weeks New Zealand and Australia have advanced their game well beyond what the Springboks currently have to offer.

They will arrive home this afternoon having underwhelmed on their second consecutive tour. Fatigue was said to be the responsible for their undoing on last year's end of year tour but that perhaps masked fault lines that have now clearly emerged.

Smit said however the shortcomings currently afflicting the side can be remedied.

He was candid in his appraisal of the team's performance yesterday. "We've got to be honest with ourselves. We've got ourselves to blame for all three weeks (defeats).

"'We are not on the money with anything. We're getting good first phase ball but we're not doing anything with it. We have to dig deep and work hard to put some rugby together. Before we assess if we're going in the right direction we need to play a bit," Smit said.

Rugby is an evolving sport but the team under guidance of Peter de Villiers seem not to have undergone a transition since they beat all comers a year ago.

De Villiers will be faced with some tough decisions should the team continue to under-perform on home soil.

He was hoping to arrive at next year's World Cup with the bulk of the winning side of 2007 still at his disposal.

That selection philosophy has merit but it is not without calculated risks. Fluctuations in form and injury can quickly bedevil such long-term ambitions and De Villiers - while still placing the selection accent on experience - will have to invigorate his squad with younger players.

The team are a team that has regressed and the experience, the commodity that had served them so well in recent years, may be an element that is starting to hamper their progress.

Can he realistically keep the side intact until September next year?

The Wallabies seem to be energised by the presence of some young stars and the Springbok selectors may be forced to cast the selection net wider.

In the meantime however De Villiers is set to continue with the men he has backed so far but they need to keep their spirits up.

"We are all still positive," scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar assured. I think we can keep our heads high. We are disappointed to go home without a win."

Pienaar believes this team has the proven capability to rise from the ashes. "We've been in this position in the past. In 2006 the year before the World Cup we didn't have the best of Tri-Nations. I don't think we should read too much into this.

"The team has a lot of character and a lot of experience. We also have guys to fall back onto to get things back on track," Pienaar said, perhaps ironically referring to the man who is likely to take his place next year, Fourie du Preez.

"The guys are still positive. We are very disappointed but we have three matches to look forward to at home," Pienaar said.

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans also believes there may not be much in it, especially now that the Springboks will have the benefit of playing at home.

"It's different from last year. It's a commentary on competition.

"There's nothing in it. It's tough. Having said that we have to go there and they will be waiting for us," Deans said.