Stand-in Springbok skipper Chilliboy Ralepelle slammed his own players after they had crashed to English champions Leicester Tigers in the tour opener on Friday night.
Ralepelle, who lasted only 20 minutes before a recurring ankle injury forced him off, was bitterly critical of himself and his team as they stumbled to a 22-17 defeat, confessing: "We let ourselves down."
Ralepelle went on: "It was one of our worst performances of the year. Leicester really came at us and they were much better prepared than we were. We knew the Leicester pack would be tough. They pride themselves on their scrum."
Ralepelle, whose tour is in doubt because of his injury, admitted his men had not stood up well.
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'It does hurt, nobody likes losing especially in the Springbok jersey.' "One of the biggest disappointments for me was that we were all waiting for someone to create some sort of magic. But at this level, you can't wait for that to happen. You have to go out there and do it yourself and if you are not able to do that, then its best you sit at home."
But Ralepelle did offer one crumb of consolation, expressing his pride that at least the South Africans mounted a sustained, furious late rally which could have snatched an unjustified draw or even win. "At the end of the day I guess the guys did show great character and commitment towards the end because they did fight back and we nearly got the win."
Did he feel this defeat would damage the Springbok tour? "It's a steep learning curve for these youngsters," he said. "It can't get worse from here.
"You see these youngsters perform in the Currie Cup and they were unbelievable. But (on Friday night), they were disappointing both to their country and also to themselves.
"But I still believe they can step it up and bounce back. They have the ability to do that."
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers slipped quietly away, leaving his assistant Dick Muir to face the music.
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