The real positives that came out of yesterday's game were the Springboks' unity and the spirit within the side throughout the match. Clearly they are responding well to Heyneke Meyer and the coaching group.

I think things can only get better from here.

In terms of the game, the one area where we really dominated was the set scrums - and that's a key area. We put their half-backs under pressure and they were unable to launch attacks.

The lineouts were evenly contested. We lost three and they were generally quite good, but we didn't put them under pressure.

In terms of discipline, we gave away nine penalties and England gave away eight, so both teams were very disciplined. Coaches are happy if the penalty count is under 10.

The first half was a bit of a nervous affair for the Springboks. We weren't getting our players to the breakdown quickly enough and allowed England to break out a couple of times.

I think it could have been a result of players being rusty and a lack of understanding of the game plan and each other.

As a result, the first half was very even.

We gave a much better account of ourselves in the second half, giving England very little ball. We had more territory and their defensive kicking game was poor - they didn't kick the ball out when they were in their 22 and didn't have a very good chase line.

The breakthrough came once Brad Barritt came off. That allowed us to get momentum through the 10 and 12 channel.

Owen Farrell, Barritt and Manu Tuilagi are a good combination defensively. Toby Flood and Tuilagi are competent but not as good.

As a result, our first try came from a fantastic counter-attacking run from Jean de Villiers. The second came from a good counter- attack that was almost like a turnover.

As for the players, the front row was great and the replacements very good.

The locks on debut, Eben Etzebeth and Juandre Kruger, worked very hard and the back row played very well, especially man of the match Willem Alberts.

His ball-carrying skills are fantastic, but in this game he also made some very big hits.

He really stepped up from his provincial form . With the ball in hand he's very, very destructive. Where he also improved yesterday was in defence.

In Super Rugby he's in the top five for missed tackles, but yesterday it was nice to see how good he was on attack.

Pierre Spies had a much better game than he's had playing for the Bulls recently.

There aren't many changes that can be made to the side for this tour. You've got so little time to prepare, it's better to explain to the current players the mistakes they made and let them improve.

It's not about chopping and changing. It's really about getting them to be more accurate and reactive.

For those critical of the Springboks' lack of try-scoring nous, Heyneke got his tactics right against England.

The Springboks got tries after very good work from our forwards.

There's no right or wrong way to play rugby. There's a winning way and the winning way is the way Heyneke has chosen to play.

This first victory does not mean that next week at Ellis Park is going to be a walkover.

England are a good side, just below us in the rankings, who should not be underestimated.

If they get good ball, if we kick badly and turn the ball over in the tackle, their backs can be very dangerous on the Highveld.

But if they don't sort their scrum out - yesterday they lost four on their put-in - and if we kick well, contest our kicks and put them under pressure in the set phases, we're not going to give them any decent attacking platforms to launch attacks from.