Springboks

De Villiers Vows Boks Will Fight Back After Wallabies Defeat

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Paul de Villiers of The Springboks pops the ball for Kurt-Lee Arendse of The Springboks during the 2026 Nations Championship game between South Africa and Wales at the Kings Park Stadium in Durban, South Africa on 18 July 2026 © Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix

Springbok flanker Paul de Villiers was visibly disappointed following their defeat against the Wallabies but said it inspired the team even more to come back fighting when the Nations Championship resumes in November.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus made 13 changes to his starting lineup for the match after their 3-1 series victory in the gruelling Castle Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry against New Zealand, as he looks to build depth and experience in his squad with an eye on the Rugby World Cup next year in Australia.

While the defeat against the Wallabies was a bitter pill to swallow, De Villiers said the Boks had taken valuable lessons from the match.

“We always learn, and of course we like to learn while winning, but sometimes you learn more by losing,” said De Villiers, a former Junior Springbok captain.

“We’re not done. There are still a couple of games coming up in November, and for the Nations Championship we’re going to go all in and make sure we do everything we can to win that trophy. We’re committed to that.”

Reflecting on the match against the Wallabies, De Villiers said: “We’re never happy losing in a Springbok jersey. I thought they put us in scenarios where we conceded a lot of penalties, especially in the first half, and we got into a situation where we had to chase the game.

“That said, we’re obviously proud of the fight in the last couple of minutes. We really worked together to try to win the match.

“Don’t get me wrong, they were good on the day. But if you look at some of the stages we got to, we made a lot of errors, and that kind of shows perhaps why we lost the game.”

Similarly to Erasmus and the rest of his teammates, De Villiers said the experience of playing in Australia and getting a taste of the conditions and the environment was a good experience for the team as they look forward to next year’s RWC.

“It was nice for us to be in Perth and Terrigal,” said the hard-working flanker.

“A couple of us were in Australia for the first time. We are coming back next year, so it was a valuable outing.

“Getting to experience the place, the people, the stadium, and playing here was extremely valuable going into the World Cup next year.”

The Boks will reassemble at the end of October to begin their preparations for the next leg of the Nations Championship, where they will line up against, Italy, France, and Ireland before the Finals Weekend in London.

Issued by SA Rugby Communications