The Wallabies seem not to be making progress © Getty Images

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Adam Ashley-Cooper made little impact on the right wing © Getty Images

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The Wallabies have at least one fan who thinks success in South Africa isn't far away.

Springboks captain Jean de Villiers was all smiles after his team romped to a 28-8 win over Australia in The Rugby Championship Test at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town after previously beating the Wallabies 38-12 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane; the Springboks have scored seven tries to one against Australia in the two tests, and the Wallabies have won only one Test, a 14-13 victory over Argentina, while South Africa have lost only one, to New Zealand in Auckland. But De Villiers says Australian rugby fans need to put their team's results in perspective, given the Wallabies have a new coach in Ewen McKenzie and a number of first-choice players absent, saying the Springboks recently were in a similar predicament but they have now won nine of their past 10 games.

"I thought we were in a similar situation last year where Heyneke [Meyer] took over as coach and I took over as captain and we had tough games from the word go," de Villiers said. "The same now under Ewen McKenzie. They haven't really had an easy game yet and it's difficult to get the momentum and get the message across to the team. Unfortunately that's the way that rugby goes; sometimes you have got to take a couple of steps back to go forward again and I'm sure they'll be back at their best sooner rather than later."

The Springboks failed to get a bonus point despite the big win, and they need now to beat competition leaders New Zealand and claim a bonus point at Ellis Park in Johannesburg if they are to have a chance to take the four nations title.

Meyer said victory itself was most important, because it kept alive their chance of winning the crown, but there was some disappointment among the Springboks players that they missed out on the bonus point.

"I was really worried about this game because we could have easily looked past this game to the next game," Meyer said. "We obviously didn't get the bonus point but I think the great thing is that we're in with a chance and that's the only thing I've asked of the team. We've got a lot of respect for the All Blacks but if you've got a chance, you're still in the competition."