De Villiers crucial intervention in the 52nd minute put clear daylight between the two sides just as Wales were beginning to get a foothold on proceedings.
“It was a defining moment for us,” said a relieved Smit. “It was a lucky try, but suddenly we were 17 points ahead. I said to the guys, ‘Let’s use that as a buffer to start playing some rugby.’ But we didn’t get out of our half enough. There’s a lot to work on and I’d like to think we’ll be a lot smoother this week.”
The Springboks were made to work hard for their 20-15 victory but the South African skipper thought his side were their own worst enemies at times.
“That was a tough day at the office and we’ll feel it over the next few days. We made it tougher than we should have, though, when we took our foot off the pedal. We thought it was all just going to happen from that second try and we slipped into the wrong frame of mind.
“We ended up defending what was a small lead and we shouldn’t have done.”
Smit paid tribute to both defences in what was an extremely physical encounter.
“Wales certainly frustrated us because a lot of what we had planned to do, we couldn’t – their defence was definitely up on the button,” he said.
“But they still didn’t breach our line and we crossed theirs twice. And that’s three out of three against Wales this year, so I’m pretty happy with that.”
