WHILE the Springboks have been tagged the "Bumbleboks" after being overwhelmed by the All Blacks at Newlands, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has warned his players to beware the wounded beast.

Deans was among the Cape Town crowd that saw the Springboks lose their way with an error-riddled performance on Saturday that enabled the All Blacks to keep South Africa scoreless in their own country for the first time in 87 years of competition between the two nations.

While the All Blacks completely dominated their opponents, defending brilliantly and excelling at the breakdown - where Australian referee Matt Goddard aggravated the home team with several of his decisions - the Springboks also shackled themselves with errors.

The Sunday Times in Johannesburg yesterday described them as the "Bumbleboks".

For most of the Test, the Springboks appeared flustered and made tactical errors under pressure, and they failed to maintain composure when conceding free-kicks and penalties.

Springboks skipper Victor Matfield repeatedly confronted Goddard to complain about his rulings, while All Blacks captain Richie McCaw at times corrected some of the referee's strange decisions.

The Springboks also struggled with their midfield kicking game, threw intercept passes and made hasty decisions when composure was required. And, yet again, the All Blacks' best were the world's pre-eminent breakaway, McCaw, and international rugby's No.1 five-eighth, Daniel Carter.

South Africa had no one who came anywhere near this pair in terms of controlling the game. As Deans knows - through his long association with McCaw and Carter at the Crusaders - offering these two a free rein can lead to despair.

Deans is also aware that the All Blacks' victory, despite providing clues on how to beat the Springboks, did not give them a passage to a Test win. It will, in fact, have the undesired effect of provoking the Springboks. As the Wallabies discovered in Auckland earlier this month, the home team invariably rebounds from a defeat.

Speaking from Cape Town, where the Wallabies are preparing for Saturday's Test in Durban, Deans yesterday explained that, after the Auckland international, he was fully aware of the dangers of playing a wounded beast on their home territory.

"Without a doubt, the Springboks won't want to suffer again at home, and at Kings Park they are playing at one of their favoured destinations," Deans said.

"It's hard for the Springboks now to win [the Tri Nations], but you know how they will respond. They are the world champions, and there is no way they will be contemplating another loss."

The high level of physicality in the Test also convinced Deans and a group of Australian players who attended the match that the Springboks will again attempt to outmuscle the Wallabies - even if that didn't quite work last month in Perth, where Australia won 16-9.

Referring to the Cape Town Test, Deans said: "Both sides had a huge level of intensity, and it was only late in the match, when it got away from the Springboks, that they were forced to play a game they weren't comfortable with.

"Being there and observing it at the arena, it was very evident that any side that enters a Tri Nations match not at full noise is just going to get belted. And while the score probably appears to be one-sided, the contest itself was very much anything but that.

"The first half was probably the biggest indicator of that. There was an awful lot of rugby played in that first half, but little to show for it, as indicated by it being 5-0 at half-time.

"The All Blacks played well by absorbing that pressure, and took the points when on offer, even if not with the boot."

The Wallabies will remain in Cape Town until Friday, when they will head to Durban for the first of two Tests in South Africa.