Rugby-Kolisi promises improved Springboks for Australia rematch

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said it was "difficult to watch" their review of last weekend's error-strewn loss to Australia but the world champions were determined to make amends in the Rugby Championship rematch in Brisbane on Saturday.

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said it was "difficult to watch" their review of last weekend's error-strewn loss to Australia but the world champions were determined to make amends in the Rugby Championship rematch in Brisbane on Saturday. The Springboks were poor in their execution on both defence and attack in the 28-26 loss on the Gold Coast, with Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper kicking the winning penalty after the siren.

Kolisi said they had pinpointed their errors and promised a much more polished display this weekend. "We know where we went wrong and it was very upsetting to lose like that, with the mistakes we made. It was difficult to watch," he told reporters on Friday.

"Because of that, we are more determined this week. We have worked really hard on what we must do. We made such simple errors. We can be much better this weekend, and we will be." The Boks were left scrambling in defence and while they only conceded one try they were forced into numerous offside penalties that cost them on the scoreboard.

"You can see for yourself, 21 missed tackles and we also had less dominant tackles," said Kolisi. "It is one of the lowest defensive games we've had. Australia played really well, they dominated the hits when they had ball in hand." South Africa have again been criticised this week for their style of play, which relies on a strong kicking game and set-piece dominance, but assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said backline players can play a more ball-in-hand style if those choose.

"If the space is there for them to take, they always have the freedom to do so. I wouldn’t say we don’t look for (attacking) opportunities," he added. "But we are not going to try and force things and play this champagne rugby that everybody is talking about. It is not in us. The most important thing for us is playing the pressure game, through the boot, set piece or with ball in hand."