Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has vowed to rectify the mistakes that characterised Saturday's shaky performance in the second Test against Wales at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

The Springboks won 37-21 to secure a 2-0 series win over the Six Nations champions. Afterwards, De Villiers said he was not worried, promising an improved performance when the Boks face Italy in their one-off Test at Newlands in Cape Town next Saturday.

At the same time, De Villiers was more accepting of the Springboks' showing because of the brute force and determination displayed by Wales as they stayed within reach of beating the Springboks for an hour, at least.

"I am not at all surprised at the way they came at us. In fact I was expecting that and they played like true champions. Our defence let us down and we allowed their confidence to grow. This week they played the old laws better than they did last week," said De Villiers.

De Villiers was also quick to defend his team's performance by highlighting the fact that the ball didn't bounce in their favour as many times this week as it did last week.

"I don't think we struggled, it was just a case of the ball bouncing nicely for us last week and this week it bounced in their favour. We didn't commit enough players to the ruck but I'm happy if we can play like this in the Tri-Nations. At times we were brilliant and we shouldn't underestimate Italy next week because they are a proud nation. We will, though, address a few things going into that game".

Springbok captain John Smit complimented the Welsh for the tenacity they showed but stated that his team never felt like the match was going to slip away from them even when Wales took over the lead twice in the game.

"We knew they were going to be a different kettle of fish. Last week we ruled the breakdowns but this week we had to share the spoils. They took their chances when they came their way. Their two tries made us more cautious but we have learnt that we have to be more accurate in our execution," Smit said.

However Welsh coach Warren Gatland wasn't pleased with some of the decisions made on the day by the referee but felt that his team gave a spirited performance that was better than the previous week.

"I am really proud of the performance and I felt that we were in the game for 50 to 60 minutes and it could have been for us to win. I do feel aggrieved at some of the refereeing decisions and I feel that we were unlucky in front of their poles. The better team won but we put pressure on them and could have won. The scoreline is irrelevant as our performance improved considerably. The guys showed a massive amount of maturity out there," Gatland said.

365