Blame game not answer for Smit.

South Africa skipper John Smit has conceded his side can only blame themselves after Australia left their Tri Nations tilt on the brink of collapse on Saturday.

The defending champions have endured a torrid time on the road so far this series, losing twice in New Zealand before going down 30-13 in Brisbane, while each of the three Tests have seen at least one Springbok sent to the sin bin.

Jaque Fourie and BJ Botha were the latest Boks players to see yellow in this year's campaign, Fourie the third to spend ten minutes off the field in the first half following locks Bakkies Botha and Danie Roussouw in New Zealand.

Although a dominant Wallabies side didn't take full advantage of being a man up as the All Blacks did, Smit admitted time needs to be spent at the drawing board to ensure his side don't put in a repeat performance when the All Blacks travel to Johannesburg on August 21. "It wasn't an ideal situation [losing Fourie in the third minute]," the World Cup-winning skipper said. "I just couldn't believe it happened again for the third week in a row. It can't keep happening surely. It's hard to play with 14 men at this level.

"You can see the pace of the Tri Nations is fantastic, when you're a man down you have to cover a lot more ground and it doesn't hurt you really after ten minutes, it hurts you in the 40 or 50 that finish the game."

Earlier in the week, coach Peter de Villiers had sensationally suggested that referees were conspiring against his team in the opening two Tri Nations Tests, claiming rugby chiefs wanted next year's World Cup hosts to be successful.

Despite being forced to apologise, his outburst hasn't eased the pressure on his position, the coach saying, "You must ask my boss," when quizzed about whether he was the right man to lead the Boks into the New Zealand showpiece.

The skipper, however, insists the squad take full responsibility for their dismal start, in which they have conceded at least 30 points in all three matches.

"We just have to be honest with ourselves," Smit said. "We've got ourselves to blame for all three weeks - we're not on the money really. "We're very realistic about how poor, how average we've been in most areas in the last three weeks. As apparent as it is to you, it hits us even more so."

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