Player ratings: Cobwebs dusted
The Springboks cruised to a comfortable 47-13 victory over the World XV at Newlands which saw them gain in confidence as the game progressed.
It was the first match of the year for Heyneke Meyer's team, and they will take much out of the game even though the scoreline shows a one-sided victory.
They scored six tries in the end as the World XV faded in the second half, but there will be concerns raised over certain areas such as the working over they got in the scrums.
The replacements made a big impact late in the game which leaves Meyer with a few interesting selection decisions ahead of the first Test against Wales in Durban next week.
We rate the Springbok players:
15 Willie le Roux
A composed game from the fullback who was good under high ball and joined the line well. His tactical kicking can still improve but his value on attack cannot be underestimated.
7/10
14 Cornal Hendricks
A good debut for the former Sevens star who was exceptionally strong in the tackle and made good use of the space he was given although his positional play was not completely spot on.
6/10
13 JP Pietersen
Made a shaky start at outside centre with a few sloppy passes and defensive lapses, but grew with confidence as the game progressed and made some valuable contributions with a few neat touches.
6/10
12 Frans Steyn
Direct and powerful as ever, making his physicality count on attack and defence. His kicking game adds another dimension in the midfield and his distribution was good.
7/10
11 Bryan Habana
Showed his finishing ability and ran great angles for Bakkies Botha's try. Looked for work and chased hard although he did get bumped off by Rene Ranger.
8/10
10 Morné Steyn
Not a great outing as he battled to find his rader off the tee in the wind and question marks over the accuracy of his passing. Battled to get his team into opposition territory in the first half but showed that he is not scared to take on the line.
5/10
9 Ruan Pienaar
A solid game which saw him provide good service and his kicking game was good with most of his efforts contested by chasers.
6/10
8 Duane Vermeulen
A stand-out performance, he did well to deal with a retreating scrum, provided a good line-out option, got stuck into the breakdown and took the ball up well.
8/10
7 Willem Alberts
A relatively quiet game for the big loose forward who ran hard when he got the chance and made some charcteristically big tackles.
6/10
6 Francois Louw
Very strong over the ball, harrassing the World XV in the tackle area and also linked well as the game opened up in the second half.
6/10
5 Victor Matfield
Ruled the line-outs as expected and got through his share of work on defence as well. His linking with Habana for Botha's try showed his class when given a chance.
7/10
4 Bakkies Botha
Led the charge and got in the faces of the opposition in vintage style, contested the throws of Toulon teammate Craig Burden well and showed his hunger to be up with Habana for his try.
8/10
3 Jannie du Plessis
Suffered at scrum-time as he got a bit of a working over and never really recovered. Will have to bounce back quickly with Wales' Gethin Jenkins his opponent next week.
4/10
2 Bismarck du Plessis
Provided some defensive muscle and posed his usual threat at the breakdown. His line-out throwing was good and he took his two driving maul tries easily but did not make a huge impact in open play with ball in hand.
7/10
1 Tendai Mtawarira
Put under pressure in the scrums against Carl Hayman and did not give the crowd many chances to shout his nickname either, could probably do with a rest given his workload this season.
6/10
Replacements:
16 Schalk Brits (On for Bismarck du Plessis, 60 mins)
Brought on when the game had opened up slightly and took the defence on with some passes working out better than others.
6/10
17 Gurthrö Steenkamp (On for Mtawarira, 67 mins)
Blown up at scrum-time and did not really make much of an impact in his time on the field.
5/10
18 Coenie Oosthuizen (On for Jannie du Plessis, 67 mins)
Went down too often in the scrums but showed his value carrying the ball over the gainline.
6/10
19 Flip van der Merwe (On for Bakkies Botha, 51 mins)
Solid performance in the last half-hour, he hit rucks hard and injected some grunt in the tight phases.
7/10
20 Schalk Burger (On for Alberts, 60 mins)
Showed off his distribution skills as he relished the chance to run at a tiring defence.
7/10
21 Fourie du Preez (On for Pienaar, 51 mins)
Took control of the game and the Boks found more space as the game went on with him calling the shots.
8/10
22 Johan Goosen (On for Morne Steyn, 69 mins)
Made a sloppy start with some careless touches but he took his try well and showed his value as the Boks raced away with it.
6/10
23 Lwazi Mvovo (On for Habana, 69 mins)
Showed good gas and then awareness to put Willie le Roux over for the final try.
7/10
By Michael de Vries
