The Springboks started their World Cup campaign with a hard fought victory against Samoa. The game was very physical and threatened to boil over at times, but the class of the SA side was too much in the end for the Samoans.

SA dominated the lineouts and the scrums but for the first 30 minutes failed to impress. Samoa scored the first try of the half after good play by their backs. The SA back line never really got going in the first half and it was only thanks to individual brilliance from Bryan Habana that the Bokke scored their first try. A second try for the Bokke by Percy Montgomery gave SA a 21-7 half time lead, but all was not well in the SA camp.

The second half saw the SA back line gain more confidence, but it was only after Jean de Villiers left the field with an injury, replaced by Francois Steyn, that the back line started to look dangerous. The great possession provided by the forwards was used with better judgement and SA scored a further 6 tries in the second half. Final score: SA 59 Samoa 7.

Samoa can take heart out of their performance,they can certainly be a difficult opponent for England.

SARB decided to rate the SA players on their performance:

15. Percy Montgomery 9/10: Mister reliable. He continues to impress every time he wears the green and gold.

14. JP Pietersen 5/10: Showed moments of great flair and skill, but his hands lets him down to often.

13. Jaque Fourie 5/10: Not a great game. Will have to improve lots if he wants to make an impact against the bigger teams.

12. Jean de Villiers 4/10: Shocking. Never got his back line away and he dropped way to many balls. Replaced after picking up yet another injury.

11. Bryan Habana 9/10: Brilliant. Again showed there is no substitute for pace and individual brilliance.

10. Butch James 6/10: Solid without being spectacular. Defended his channel well.

9. Fourie du Preez 7.5/10: Good service and his trusty boot added stabilty to the Bok backs.

8. Danie Rossouw 7/10: His physical presence helped and he made some huge hits on defence.

7. Juan Smit 5/10: A quiet game by the flanker, slipping a few tackles and not effective as a ball carrier.

6. Schalk Burger 8/10: Another massive game by him. Must be one of the best in the World and proves it every time he plays.

5. Victor Matfield 7/10: Dominated the lineouts and showed good hands for a big man. Solid game by the Bulls lock.

4. Bakkies Botha 8.5/10: Brilliant. The big man tackled and carried the ball like a demon. Samoa had no answer to the power of Bakkies.

3. CJ van der Linde 7/10: Scrummed well and made some strong runs.

2. John Smit 6/10: Not match fit and missed a couple of lineout throws. Scrummed well and put in some big tackles.

1. Os du Randt 7.5/10: Dominated the scrums and made a couple of huge hits. The ‘old man’ is playing really good rugby at the moment.

Replacements:

22. Francois Steyn 7.5/10: What a player. Again shows his talent with a great display. Still tries to do to much on his own but provides flair to the stagnant back line.

The rest of the reserves all did their basics right without really having a major impact on the game.

SARB man of the match: Bryan Habana and Percy Montgomery.