It was all a blur for Kriel

Kriel made his long-awaited international debut when he replaced Siyamthanda Kolisi in the second half at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. 

"I was trying to think back on the game and I actually could hardly remember anything," said Kriel. "I realised how quickly it goes. 

"It was just an awesome experience to get on the field to fight alongside your brothers and we really showed some character in those last couple of minutes to defend our tryline.

"For me this was probably one of the best 20 minutes of my life, even though I didn't have a lot of opportunities to run with the ball."

Kriel said he will continue to work hard during the final phase of this season's Super Rugby campaign with the Lions so that he can keep his place in the squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship.

"The really hard work starts now because the sides know about you and they will start to target you and analyse you more. 

"I believe if you work hard and if your work ethic is high then the rest will sort itself out," Kriel added.

Meanwhile, prop Steven Kitshoff, who also made his debut on Saturday, said their scrum plan paid off in the end.

The Springboks dominated that facet of the game throughout the 80 minutes.

"I think Beast [Tendai Mtawarira] and Frans [Malherbe] did really well in the scrums and they laid the platform," said Kitshoff.

"Julian [Redelinghuys] and I just took over from them and we just had to build on their confidence. Going into the game, that was one of our plans and we actually executed it quite well."

By Warren Fortune, in Port Elizabeth

@FortuneWarren

@rugby365com