The Springboks are next in action against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on 6 September, which will be followed a week later with a Test in Wellington.
Rassie Erasmus has already settled on a 36-man squad for the Tests in New Zealand, and this will be announced publicly on Monday, 25 August, although the exact time has yet to be confirmed.
Erasmus said immediate focus had shifted to the All Blacks challenge after a hard-fought win against Australia.
“After a loss you lose a little bit of belief, even though we had won eight on the trot and nine out of ten, but you do lose a little bit of belief, so the big thing for us was to try and win and not let them get a bonus point.
“We didn’t take all our opportunities, but we got eight points more than them so that’s satisfying.
“But we always had to go to New Zealand, and beat them twice, if we want to have any chance – so nothing’s changed.”
Springboks will depart for New Zealand on Tuesday
The Springboks are currently in third place on the Rugby Championship standings on four points – the same as Argentina, although they boast a better points’ difference – trailing Australia by one point, and log leaders New Zealand by two points after two rounds.
In the other match on Saturday night, Argentina defeated New Zealand 29-23 in Buenos Aires, to throw the competition wide open with four rounds remaining.
“It was a tough week for us and rightfully so,” said Pollard, who also became the second player to pass 800 Test points for the Springboks.
“We were disappointed with the result last week, so it was challenging to balance the emotions and tactics for the game. But we learned a lot from the last game, and we hit the sweet spot toward the end of the week.
“We may have a lot of senior guys in the squad, but several younger players are stepping up as well, and we take lessons from everyone, and that’s what got us over the line this week.”
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