South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus reckons Sunday's nail-biting loss to the Wallabies could prove crucial when the Springboks attempt to snare a World Cup three-peat next year.
Australia extended their unbeaten streak under new coach Les Kiss to five matches on Sunday when they posted a 42-38 win over South Africa in Perth.
The Springboks were getting pumped 42-17 with 10 minutes to go, but four yellow cards to the Wallabies allowed South Africa to score three tries to give them a shot at victory.
Australia held on for a famous win, and Erasmus was in no mood to make excuses after the match.
Erasmus had made 13 changes to his starting line-up from the team that sealed a 3-1 series win over the All Blacks with a 43-28 triumph in the US earlier this month.
And with his team trailing by 10 points early in the second half on Sunday, Erasmus introduced his entire eight-man bench at the same time in a bid to claw back into the match.
South Africa are the world No.1 nation and have won the past two World Cups.
The Wallabies climbed from seventh to sixth with Sunday's win, and they will be hosting the World Cup in a year's time.
Although disappointed with a rare Springboks defeat, Erasmus hopes the loss will prove crucial down the track.
"Australia is a good team. They definitely have improved a lot since Les is in there," Erasmus said.
"They played at home. They're the World Cup host next year. We might strike them in a vital play-off game, and it's nice to have had a taste of them.
"So next year when we play them, we will also know a little bit more about each other. I'm not going to say lessons learned, but I think a valuable experience for us."
South Africa will be back in action in November when they take on Italy, France and Ireland in the Nations Championship.
