THE Springboks finally have a centurion who was able to savour his big day.

Victor Matfield yesterday bucked the trend set by Percy Montgomery and John Smit, who both left the field as part of the vanquished on their 100th Test appearance.

Matfield followed the Wallabies onto the field here yesterday and so long was the wait for the rest of his teammates to emerge from the tunnel that for a while it seemed he may have to get the job done by himself.

His efforts in this year's competition had been the subject of much debate but, yesterday, he delivered a performance that will stand up to any scrutiny.

He was a towering presence in the lineout, especially in the second half as the Wallabies unravelled quite spectacularly in that department.

His timing could not have been better. On two occasions, he poached the opposition's ball deep inside the Springboks' 22 when the game was in the balance - leaving the Wallabies to explore other avenues.

Anything short of a compelling performance from Matfield yesterday would have been hard to stomach at Fortress Loftus.

When 30000 spectators take their seats wearing a mask bearing your image, you had better respond to the call: "Will the real Victor Matfield please stand up?"

Matfield is revered in these parts but the organisers stretched the point by designing one of the two masks to bear a remarkable resemblance to Jesus Christ.

By contrast, the life of Bryan (Habana) has vacillated between comedy and farce since he equalled the Springbok record of 38 tries earlier this year.

Since scoring against Italy, his route to the tryline has been blocked.

While Matfield could seemingly walk on water, Habana has been treading it - and yesterday's performance was an all-time low.

This was his first game at Loftus since moving to Cape Town and when he dropped the ball, allowing James O'Connor to score in the first half, he was arguably viewed more as Uitlander than Kaapenaar.

If Matfield impersonators were the order of the day in the stands, the player who ran out in the No15 jersey for a long while gave the impression that Frans Steyn was lost in France and that this was merely a stand-in.

Steyn showed the lack of confidence and all the pre-season cobwebs one would expect from somebody who is about to embark on the Ligue One campaign in France.

He never quite raised his game to the dizzy heights one has come to expect, but his long-range penalty in the second half at least provided a glimpse.

It had often been suggested in the build-up to this match that Steyn was some distance off his best - and expectations were naturally modest.

So, too, were expectations regarding former Bok prop Toks van der Linde, who performed the national anthem with a striking blonde, who looked increasingly distressed as Van der Linde gazed deep into her eyes as he crooned the Uit die blou van onse Hemel half of the anthem.

It was a strange start to the day and for a long time it only got worse.