"It is a bit unusual for Australia to bowl first in big games," said Graeme Smith said afterwards. "But once we posted 317, we were always confident.
"At 129 for nought, we were a little bit nervous, but the boys did really well and showed a lot of character. It was another very good day for us."
"Obviously we wanted to play well and win the series here," he said. "I think the batters did a superb job.
"Again in our top four we got one really big partnership and it was nice to have someone to go on and get a hundred as Herschelle did.
"He’s been getting a few starts, so it’s nice that he cashed in. So it was a good day."
"I think there’s some really exciting players coming through.
"Everyone’s contributing with bat and ball – there’s a really good energy in the squad.
"We just need to keep our feet on the ground and take one step at a time. So we’ll look to finish the series on a high note at the Wanderers and if we do make it 4-1, then it will really make a top-standard series for us."
"There was enough there this morning and I think we even capitalised on it early on," Australia captain Ricky Ponting said. "Herschelle obviously played beautifully today, I think he played a sensational innings.
"I thought De Villiers was also outstanding.
"We needed someone at the top to go on and make a big hundred, but we didn’t really have that.
"As I said, I thought there was enough movement in the air and the wicket was just slowing and holding up enough to do some damage early on, but we didn’t capitalise on it. So full credit to their batsmen for the way they played today."
He added: "We weren’t able to do well this time, and the South Africans outplayed us in the last three games in all facets of the game, so they deserve to be where they are.
"We’d like to finish the tour on a high, so hopefully there’ll be a bit of character in the team when the guys pitch up on Friday."