South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus believes their win over Australia outweighed any negatives surrounding their performance.

The Springboks defeated the Wallabies 30-22 in Cape Town, with Handre Pollard scoring all six of his kicks to make the difference at DHL Stadium.

Despite leading 20-10 at the break, Australia threatened another comeback after tries from Max Jorgensen and Brandon Paenga-Amosa, but a late score from Eben Etzebeth got the hosts over the line.

Pollard, who became just the second Springboks player to reach 800 Test points, proved to be vital in a win that Erasmus labelled as "satisfying". 

"It was far from a perfect performance, but sometimes just getting back on the horse is the most important thing," said Erasmus.

"After a loss you lose a little bit of belief, even though we had won eight on the trot and nine out of ten, but you do lose a little bit of belief, so the big thing for us was to try and win and not let them get a bonus point.

"We didn't take all our opportunities, but we got eight points more than them so that's satisfying.

"But we always had to go to New Zealand, and beat them twice, if we want to have any chance – so nothing's changed."

It's all over in Cape Town as the Boks seal a hard-fought win. Thanks for a tough contest @Wallabies and safe travels home #Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold #RSAvAUS pic.twitter.com/jY5uVBSNSz

— Springboks (@Springboks) August 23, 2025

South Africa face New Zealand in their next two matches in the competition, starting with a Test at Eden Park in Auckland on September 6.

Although there are still plenty of improvements to be made, Erasmus insisted his side will learn from their mistakes.

"Last week I would have said we got a two or a three out of ten for our performance in the second half, but I think this was a six or a seven performance," Erasmus added.

"There were some handling errors – although the conditions played a part in that – but their back three was fantastic and this game gave us a good taste of what we are going to see when we play New Zealand because they have lightning backs as well.

"We tend to struggle when it's an open, free-running game – it's beautiful rugby, but you lose on the scoreboard.

"Overall, we'll learn from this and hopefully the tighter the matches get, we'll get more comfortable with it as we have been in the past."