"It was unfortunate to lose Ali at that early stage," Boric said. "Our line-out lost a bit of its shape, but generally we coped pretty well."
Boric relished the chance of having more responsibility when Williams left the field.
"But it is still good knowing that there are those experienced guys there as well," he said. "I'm feeling reasonably comfortable in the environment now."
Boric (24), who was playing in only his third test and having his first start, felt the All Blacks had the game won when Dan Carter kicked his sixth penalty goal to stretch the lead to five points.
"I was pretty disappointed in the end. But I guess that's test footy," he said.
He said it was a physically hard game against a Springbok team that had been stung after losing in Wellington.
He knew it would be a challenge locking against Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, two of the most experienced locks in the world, who were locking the Springbok scrum together for a record 40th time in a test match.
"It was a great challenge and awesome to play against them," Boric said.
The Springboks won the line-outs 12-6 and took the ball three times off All Black throws.
Boric said it was difficult winning line-out ball in the conditions.
"It is a combination of everything, the right call, the timing and making the right decisions. Chuck in a bit of wind and it makes it a bit difficult."
His line-out role did not change when Williams left the field.
"It was planned that Kevin O'Neill would make the line-out calls if he came on," Boric said.
The match was one of the few in which Boric had experienced opponents competing for his team's ball.
"But it was a really good test against players recognised as the pinnacle of line-out forwards in the world."
