Springboks captain Eben Etzebeth is asking South African rugby fans not to vent their frustration towards players' loved ones after their record 57-0 defeat against the All Blacks.
The loss was South Africa's biggest against the All Blacks in history, and the loss has angered many fans.
Speaking to Afrikaans website Netwerk24, Etzebeth said the wives and girlfriends of some of the Boks had been subjected to "nasty" messages upon the South Africans' return to Johannesburg.
"I can understand people being upset with us. They're allowed to be - but keep our families out of it," Etzebeth said.
"There are some terrible people out there, saying some nasty things to our wives and girlfriends, and that's not nice."
The 25-year-old was shocked at the backlash from South African rugby fans as the loss was their first of the season, but not all fans are frustrated at the team.
"There are still a few people that wanted to take pictures with us and that applauded us when we got home.
"But, yes, there were plenty of people that were extremely negative. We understand that, but we always give our all.
"We were positive [before the Test] but they brought us back down to earth. We didn't play well and they were incredible.
"We didn't start too badly. We had a good 10, 15 minutes. But then they scored twice from turnovers and against these guys, you don't come back from that."
In 2016, the Springboks only won four of their 12 Test matches, compared to this year where in seven games they have five wins, one draw and one loss.
The All Blacks have now won 10 of their last 11 Test matches between the two nations.
The Springboks will have a chance at payback when the two nations face off in Cape Town on October 8 (NZ time).
Newshub.
