The Springboks need to improve the way they play the final 10 minutes, says coach Rassie Erasmus, noting they had been below par in the first three Tests against New Zealand. South Africa lead the series 2-1 going into the last contest in Baltimore on Saturday to clinch their first series victory in half a century. However, they’ve come out second best over the last 10 minutes in all three matches. The Kiwis outscored them 7-0 in Soweto, 7-3 in Cape Town and 7-0 in the Ellis Park opener. “We didn’t handle the last nine, 10 minutes well, especially in the first Test match. I don’t think we’ve been consistent.“If we can get consistency out of the way, we play both on attack and defence. A lot of people are talking about our defence, but when you play against New Zealand, it is tough to defend and they really attack well, so we want to get better there. “But we felt the last nine or 10 minutes is normally the time when we were better in the past, and we felt we let that slip a bit the last three times and we want to get better at that.”Erasmus stressed the All Blacks were dangerous against any side but said South Africa’s scramble defence was critical to containing them. “There’s not a defence system they will not breach with the way they’re playing. Then the scramble defence becomes really important, and our guys can fight back and try to get a reference point where there’s a ruck again, where you can try and stop the offloads and their great running skills. “When you have young energetic guys like Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 24], Damian [Willemse, 28], Ethan [Hooker, 23], a guy like Grant [Williams, 30], Krappie [Morné van den Berg, 28], that helps a lot because they bring the energy and the speed, but the older guys manage to keep up, and they bring the calmness when it comes to that, so I guess that combination is really important to stay calm.”Erasmus believes Feinberg-Mngomezulu has yet to get into full stride. “Sacha, there are some areas where he’s not 100%. He hasn’t hit his straps for us yet, but we must remember he was off for a very long time and it’s only his fourth game back.”However, the coach said the flyhalf was a key part of the Bok defensive structures, especially early in the match. “Apart from Sacha’s skills and the many things he can do well, he’s a really good defender and that’s normally one of the big things [as] the All Blacks try to get a really fast start.”Manie Libbok was also a key member of the personnel, bringing speed off the bench when players were tiring. “The game looks different the last 30 minutes when everybody’s a bit more tired. There are obviously more gaps and forwards who are a bit more heavy-footed and struggle to fill the gaps.“Manie can come on after five minutes if Sacha is injured, then we know he can handle the pressure, but we might need him later in the game, like we did last weekend,” said Erasmus, adding Handré Pollard was likely to return for the one-off Test against Australia in Perth towards the end of the month. Springbok squad:15-1: Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Ethan Hooker, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morné van den Berg, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt), Ruan Nortjé, Eben Etzebeth, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Ox Nché. Replacements: Deon Fourie, Gerhard Steenekamp, Thomas du Toit, Lood de Jager, André Esterhuizen, Cameron Hanekom, Cobus Reinach, Manie Libbok.