KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - The Springboks will have a fourth different captain in as many Tri-Nations tests when their second stringers face the All Blacks on Saturday.
The South Africans flew to Christchurch yesterday, having given the Wallabies a mighty fright before losing the match, and their captain Bob Skinstad
to a broken rib.
Immediately after the match Skinstad insisted it wasn't serious, but x-rays later confirmed the No 8 would be sidelined for four to six weeks and in a race against time to be fit for the World Cup starting in September.
"It was a loose maul. I think I got one of the fatties landing on me," Skinstad said.
Springbok coach Jake White is optimistic he'll have the reborn No 8 on board for France in September.
"If I work out my sums correctly, most ribs heal in six weeks, which means he's got three weeks to recover before the World Cup. So it's not all doom and gloom."
Western Province lock Gerrie Britz, who played the last of his 12 tests on last year's Northern Hemisphere tour, was reportedly summoned to Christchurch as a replacement.
The Boks have other loose forward cover in Kabamba Floors and Hilton Lobberts, who weren't required on Saturday.
Flanker Wikus van Heerden and hooker Gary Botha loomed as the frontrunners to take over the captaincy this week.
White maintained he had no regrets about his decision to rest 20 of his leading players, which probably cost them victory and dominated pre-test discussions before the home farewells for Wallaby stars George Gregan and Stephen Larkham.
Absentees included regular skipper John Smit and lock Victor Matfield, who took over the captaincy against the All Blacks in Durban when Smit was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
"It could be a lot worse. I could be sitting here with my frontline players out for six months," White said.
"It just reaffirms as a coach that the decisions we've made in the last four years have been the right decisions."
Foul play allegations were levelled at the Springboks as they flew out, although there were no post-match citings after the match tapes were viewed.
Australian newspapers highlighted an incident when prop CJ van der Linde appeared to rake his fingers over the face of Wallabies flanker George Smith, who reeled away.
Lock Johann Muller was sin-binned for punching, and Smith was penalised for a high swinging arm on Muller late in the match.
"B-grade finale for Wallabies' A-grade stars," the Sunday Telegraph's lead headline said.
The Wallabies were heavily favoured last night, but the Springboks, stinging from the B-team label, rocked their hosts by leading 17-0 after 14 minutes at Telstra Stadium.
The Wallabies, notoriously slow starters, narrowed it to 17-10 at halftime and a Stephen Hoiles try immediately after the break levelled the scores as the hosts finished stronger.
White admitted he was never confident of victory despite the flying start.
"I never thought that we were going to win the game but I thought, 'Geez, what a great start. Now we can settle down'."
He was also insistent his reconditioning policy hadn't cheapened the Tri-Nations, an accusation levelled by both the New Zealand and Australian rugby unions last month.
"We're not happy with losing. We really came here to win," he said.
White labelled van Heerden, who peeled from a maul to dive over for a shock early try, as his man of the match.
- NZPA, AAP
