Eddie Jones lauds South Africa

Australia coach Eddie Jones showed himself to be every bit the sportsman following his side's defeat to South Africa in Durban on Saturday, heaping praise on the Boks who secured the Tri-Nations titles with the tense 23-19 victory.

But Jones was critical of his side's lack of composure - particularly in the third quarter of the Tri-Nations decider, a period he described as "the worst 20 minutes of our season".

"Without a doubt the best team won today," said Jones.

"The game was played like a grand final - I will not retract my [earlier] statements that this is the best Tri-Nations I've been involved in.

"But I'm disappointed at our performance - we were dreadful in the first 20 minutes of the second half, which were the worst 20 minutes of our season.

"Whether that was caused by the pressure of the game or the pressure from the Springboks I don't know. It was probably a combination of both."