The Springboks are slukking swaar on their defeat to Australia on the weekend.
Entering the match unbeaten in the Rugby Championship after two victories over Argentina, South Africa got their wind uitgeskop deur Quade Cooper, who converted a penalty after the hooter had gone to win the match 28-26.
This, despite South Africa having outscored their hosts three tries to one, with replacement hooker Malcolm Marx scoring two of those tries off the back of rolling mauls.
Speaking after the defeat, Marx says: “It [the defeat] is a bit of a tough pill to swallow at the moment.
“We have to go through the game in detail to see where we make mistakes. “[There’s] always room for improvement.”
When emotions run high after bitter defeats, the man in the middle usually cops some flak from fans.
Asked about referee Luke Pearce’s officiating of the scrum battle, Marx says: “There were scrums where we felt we were dominant and there was obviously maybe a different picture painted towards the ref – maybe that’s not what he saw.
“I’m always gonna sit here and say I felt we were dominant, being a Springbok. Maybe the picture that we felt and what he saw were two different things. “We’ll have a look, work on it and see what we can improve on.”
Asked to give an overview of the ref’s performance, Marx adds: “Some things are gonna go your way and others aren’t. “I don’t think I can comment on what he saw – he maybe saw something different than what we saw…”
The Springboks will be looking to bounce back when the two teams lock horns again on Saturday.