All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen refused to concede the Tri Nations title after the New Zealanders lost their second Test in a week to South Africa 31-19 in Durban on Sunday (NZT).
While he felt the discipline of the side was poor the side had tried its heart out in both Test matches in South Africa.
The side had been trying too hard at times and it had not taken opportunities to run the ball when it was on while it had also kicked at the wrong times.
The result was the side lost its composure and in that situation poor decisions get made, he told Sky Sport.
"They made a huge effort all match, the desire is there, you can see that definitely in their defensive effort.
"We will have to guts it out and go away and work hard and get better," he said.
"We're not looking for any excuses."
The important thing was that the selectors would not panic, he said.
"South Africa are the world champions and they are playing like it at the moment. They have good players across the park.
"The Tri Nations is still on. We lost two games last year and we still have two games at home and a game in Australia," he said.
Captain Richie McCaw said the pressure got on top of the side, as it did in Bloemfontein a week earlier.
The South Africans kicked very well and pinned New Zealand in its own half.
"We made mistakes trying to run the ball out. When you are trying to play flat-footed it is tough and when you can't win first phase ball it makes it tough.
"We've got to regroup and keep believing in ourselves," McCaw said.
Springboks captain John Smit said the South Africans went into the game not wanting to play too much rugby in their own half.
The basis of the side's success was put down to a nine-day camp it had before the series in which the team went back to work on a lot of basics, something it hadn't done for some time.
"That gave us a lot of help. But the more you win, the more you have to win.
"Next week will be paramount [against Australia] before we go overseas," he said.