Willie le Roux: "Defence wins World Cups"

Willie Le Roux has admitted that South Africa paid for two defensive lapses in their World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand.

Despite holding a slender advantage at half time, the Springboks conceded two vital tries while failing to cause the same problems for the All Blacks at the opposite end.

On an evening when Heyneke Meyer's side often frustrated the defending champions with their stubborn play, Le Roux admits that it was the little battles which handed New Zealand a 20-18 victory at Twickenham.

"They say defence wins World Cups," the full-back told Sports Mole. "We pride ourselves on our defence, but unfortunately we let in two guys in out in the corners and that, of course did not help us.

"Going forward, it's difficult to explain [why we struggled] but we'll look at the tape on Monday to see what we should have done better."

South Africa's tournament will finish against either Australia or Argentina in the third-place playoff next Friday.