All Blacks coach John Mitchell believes South Africa has what it takes to beat Australia in the final Tri-Nations match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next Saturday.

If they do, then New Zealand will be crowned Tri-Nations champions for the first time since 1999.

The Springboks are out of contention for the title after a 30-23 loss to the All Blacks in Durban, with New Zealand's bonus point for scoring four tries in the match making the Wallabies' task a very tall order.

Even if the Wallabies win, they must score four tries themselves and win by a margin of 25 points.

"South Africa have a lot of exciting talent and I'm sure they will be a force in the World Cup next year. They have a very real chance of beating the Wallabies next weekend," Mitchell said after his side's third win of the series.

"I was happy with the way my players adapted to playing here and I won't think of the future immediately, but instead savour the moment of victory here in Durban," said the former England assistant coach.

Springbok coach Rudolph Straeuli, meanwhile, said that the Boks should have won the Test and cost themselves with mistakes and wrong options.

"We really should have won this one - it was really close. We had lots of scoring opportunites but one or two wrong options cost us," he said.

"Most individuals played well so there is no need to panic and we have the players to go forward," he said. "Having said that, we must still look at ourselves and rectify the problems we have," he said.

Two players who stood out were flyhalf Andre Pretorius and flank Joe van Niekerk who have shown that they are potential worldbeaters for South Africa.

Straeuli also deplored the ugly incident which saw Irish referee Dave McHugh attacked by a spectator invading the field, suffering a dislocated a shoulder.