While Schmidt was delighted to have cleared the second hurdle in his side’s bid to match the 1984 Grand Slam Wallabies he also had some encouraging words for Wales in the wake of their 52-20 defeat.
“I think the scoreboard exaggerated the difference between the two sides. When you’re trying to chase a game, you start to overplay potentially, then the game loosens up, and it either comes off or it doesn’t,” said Schmidt.
“For us, we got a couple of tries on the back of that. It’s tough for the Welsh players at the moment, and I could see how hard they were working.
“We didn’t think it was going to end like that when it was 19-13 at half time and a minute and a half into the second half we lost a man. The way they built their way back into the game at 19-13 was admirable stuff.
“They probably just needed a couple of breaks to go their way. Losing Adam Beard was a huge blow for them and allowed us to pilfer a few line outs when they were in good field position.”
Schmidt takes his side to Edinburgh for this weekend’s clash with Scotland. A win at Murrayfield would set up a Grand Slam shot against his former side Ireland at he Aviva Stadium on Saturday 30 November.
That will be the final international outing for the Wallabies before they meet the British & Irish Lions next summer. Meanwhile, Lake will be leading his side into battle against the Boks at Principality Stadium on Saturday 23 November to end their autumn commitments.
“South Africa are formidable but they just have to keep trusting in themselves and stick with the pride and character they showed against us,” added Schmidt.
“Belief is really hard to build, but character and belief are interwoven. It takes time to build that in a squad, especially when you have a lot of inexperienced players in a squad.
“South Africa have so many weapons across the game and how good was Cheslin Kolbe against England? It’s going to be a big challenge.
“The Welsh were clinical against Australia at the World Cup. In the first quarter Australia were right in the game in it but Wales scored early and built the pressure and built their way into the game.
“They accumulated on the scoreboard and controlled the game really well. But they did have a few different players then.
“You’d be surprised what pulling experienced players from a young team can do because they are the guys you look to when you are under pressure. You need the calm voices to make the good decisions.
“I spoke to Dan Biggar before the game and he provided me with plenty of misery here before. He was an outstanding player and it’s not like you can suddenly replace that.
“Gareth Anscombe has come in but he’s got a lot of youth around him. There is a period of time where catching up that experience, growing and understanding the pressure moments in a game can be tough going.”
