New Zealand centre Aaron Mauger has criticised South Africa's aggressive style after the All Blacks' 26-21 Tri-Nations victory in Durban on Saturday.

The 25-year-old revealed Kiwi captain Richie McCaw had highlighted the Springboks' tactics at halftime after coming under attack from the home pack.

Graham Henry's side then decided to stand up to their opponents, according to Mauger, with two late tries sealing the win.

Mauger told

: "There was a lot of cheap shots going into the side there. Fair's fair if you are ready for it and shaping up, but a lot of it is coming in from the side of rucks and that sort of stuff.

"It's pretty average really, so it's something to think about the next time we play them.

"Richie just let the boys know what was happening out there and the boys were ready to look after him and fortunately for the game it never came to a bit more than a bit of scuffling and stuff. Hopefully it doesn't have to go any further.

"It's pretty frustrating because a lot of it is unseen. It's sort of hidden away but I suppose if the cameras look hard enough they will find a bit of dirt out there.

"But that's up to the officials that they pick that sort of stuff up.

"They are usually like that, they usually try and target a few of our main players.

"If that is their intention, we just have to make sure we look after them.

"We don't go away to play rugby that way, we go out to do it in a positive fashion. That's what we are trying to concentrate on, making sure we use the ball well."

New Zealand take on Australia at Melbourne's Telstra Dome in their next Tri-Nations clash on Saturday before hosting the South Africans in Christchurch on July 14th.