South Africa's thrilling 33-31 Tri Nations victory over Australia at Ellis Park was marred by the news that seven fans were arrested after pelting the Australian team with beer bottles.

"It's utterly ridiculous to allow beer bottles into the ground," said Wallaby coach Eddie Jones. "Ellis Park has to take a good look at themselves. They should ban glass beer bottles."

The incident occurred following Wallaby hooker Brendan Cannon's try late in the game that gave the Wallabies the lead. As the players celebrated the try a small section of the crowd demonstrated their displeasure by throwing bottles.

"If it had gone on a bit longer it could have become an incident," commented Australian captain George Gregan. "It stopped though when we went to the half way line."

During the 2001 Super 12 series, the ACT Brumbies, coached by Jones, were also pelted with bottles during their victory over the Cats.

"The whole thing is disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful," added Jones. "It's hard to believe that it still has not been dealt with. I wrote a complaint in March 2001. You can read it still. But yet nothing has been done. If I was on the board of Ellis Park I'd do something about it."

Stadium manager George Stainton claimed the bottles were not made of glass as they were prohibited inside the ground.

The incident follows the attack on referee David McHugh by a Bok supporter during last weekend's game with New Zealand.

As for the game, Gregan commented, "We never assumed we would win, even when we snatched the lead so late in the match."

"The Springboks never gave up and I congratulate them. They just held their nerve better than us, but they deserved the win."

South African captain Corne Krige was delighted with the victory. "This time we took our chances," he said.

"Failing to punish opponents has been our Achilles heel in previous Tri-Nations matches. I'm thrilled for the team. A series of second-half substitutions disrupted our rhythm, but I want to praise the referee, who was unbelievable. This victory is for everyone inside the stadium and the millions watching on television."