Springbok coach Harry Viljoen said his team's 20-15 win over the French in the second Test at the Absa Stadium on Saturday was very important despite the obvious areas of concern.

South Africa levelled the series at 1-1 in an encounter Viljoen described as "brutal".

Viljoen declined to comment on the issue of ill-discipline, despite the fact the Boks had two players yellow-carded, and another two lucky not to receive their marching orders in an ill-tempered first half.

"We've worked on Butch," was all Viljoen said after watching his flyhalf nearly decapitate French rightwing David Bory with a stiff arm, after earlier receiving a warning from referee Chris White of England for tackling without using his arms.

"We have a lot of work to do and there are areas of concern," said a recalcitrant Viljoen.

Apart from James' strong-arm tactics, lock Mark Andrews and centre De Wet Barry were sin-binned while Erasmus would surely have been in trouble had he not mistaken Robbie Fleck's head for a Frenchman. Fleck had to leave the field temporarily with a bloodied head.

However, a three-man citing commission, headed up by Namibia's Cameron Kotze, suspended James for two weeks for his late and dangerous tackle on French rightwing David Bory.

James will now miss next week's Test against Italy in Port Elizabeth, and is likely to be replaced by Gaffie du Toit who was in Viljoen's original 32-man squad.

Viljoen and French counterpart Bernard Laporte both heaped praise on the French defensive efforts. "They were very organised on defence. I had a long discussion with their defensive coach after the game," said Viljoen, obviously hoping for some tips.

Viljoen was loathe to comment on individual players, but another area of concern must be the goalkicking of James, who missed three easy penalties in the second half, with the Boks trailing 14-15.

Bok captain Andre Vos said the reason he spurned four goalable penalty opportunities after James's misses were twofold. When asked if he had opted for touch to give James a break, or launch an attack, Vos said it was a bit of both.

Viljoen said that he felt the Boks had control of the game, despite them nearly losing after a Gerald Merceron drop-goal and penalty went wide, on the two occasions the French broke out oftheir half in the second period.

Merceron had another good game, especially in the first half, scoring all 15 points via four penalties and a drop.

But with the Boks on constant attack in the second half, chances were far and few between, and when they came he could not convert the two difficult chances.

Laporte said his team was under too much pressure to find the balance between defence and attack, praising the Boks. "The Springboks put their hands up today," said Laporte, "but we still managed to hold up despite the pressure".

French captain Fzabien Galthie also said the Bok pressure was too much, but he also admitted that they could have sneaked a result with the two chances at the death.

But it was the Boks who snatched the win via two late James penalties.

Meanwhile, lanky lock Albert van den Berg was stretchered off the field minutes before the end when a scrum collapsed. Van den Berg injured his sternum and will be out for three to five weeks. His possible replacement is Victor Matfield.