South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus had exaggeratedly suggested he could be looking for a new job if his side had lost to the All Blacks on Saturday. Instead, a 36-34 win showed his team was moving the right way towards next year's Rugby World Cup.

The former Springbok loose forward's side, which had lost to Argentina and then Australia on their travels, faced an All Blacks team brimming with confidence and with an eye on wrapping up their third successive Rugby Championship title with two games to spare.

Erasmus, however, said the way his side defended on Saturday "for what felt like hours", making 235 tackles to the All Blacks' 61, showed it could now continue with its plan to challenge for next year's global showpiece in Japan.

"When we started planning we thought there's one way to come back: it's to beat New Zealand in New Zealand," Erasmus said after a tumultuous 2017 that saw the Springboks win just seven of their 13 Tests, costing Allister Coetzee his job.

"That was a month ago. Then we lost those two games in a row and you lose some belief, but we always targeted this game to say 'we can turn things (around) and be real contenders at the World Cup'."