South Africa coach Jake White has said the Springboks' reputation for foul play is to blame after seeing his side fall foul of referees. The Springboks have conceded numerous penalties and suffered two sin-binnings in the Tests against Wales and Ireland.
"Sometimes I feel we're paying for the sins of our past," said White.
"We're not going to make a complaint. If you make too much fuss, you don't end up with much credibility - especially if you've lost the match."
Tri-Nations champions South Africa arrived in the British Isles harbouring hopes of becoming the first side since 1984 to achieve the Grand Slam by beating all four home nations.
But a narrow 38-36 win over Wales was followed by a 17-12 defeat against Ireland on Saturday, and White believes the Springboks have been harshly treated by the referees.
"Against Ireland, we camped on their tryline for five minutes and they slowed ball down and stood offside," said White.
"Not once were they told that the next player to infringe would be penalised. However, every time they got into our 22 and we did exactly the same thing as them, it resulted in a lecture from the referee." White also says flanker Schalk Burger - sin-binned in both of South Africa's matches - is being singled out unfairly by referees.
"I have had time to look at the Schalk yellow card (against Ireland) and I'm starting to think that someone is putting the nail into him," said White.
"He's not allowed to do things that other players are getting away with because someone has said he has a huge impact on the game.
"His work-rate is so high that he's getting seen more often.
"The guy is a little bit confused because when you show him the video footage and he asks what is he doing wrong, I don't know what to tell him because he's not actually doing anything wrong."
South Africa were saddled with a reputation for over-the-top thuggery after their 53-3 defeat against England in 2002, a game marred by Jannes Labuschagne's sending-off and a succession of off-the-ball incidents.
But White says the Springboks have cleaned up their act since the World Cup.
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Schalk Burger is not allowed to do things that other players are getting away with 