Boks hold firm on shaky pitch

The unbridled physicality of their fellow forwards and the composure that seems to have taken up permanent residence in the seasoned back division helped ease prop Frans Malherbe and lock Pieter-Steph du Toit's Springbok debuts against Wales.

Scrumhalf Fourie du Preez won the man of the match award, centre Jaque Fourie was robust upon his return to the side, Bryan Habana ran at the heart of the defence with alacrity, and captain Jean de Villiers personified calmness as he marshalled his troops to a 24-15 win in their European tour opener.

Even in trench warfare, smart decision-making is key, and with five of their backliners having played more than 50 Tests, the Boks were blessed with men unfamiliar with panic stations.

It helped smooth the path for Malherbe and Du Toit, though in the case of the former the Dragons gave him the baptism of fire many anticipated.

Given the many matches it has hosted in the Rugby League World Cup, the Millennium Stadium's pitch cut up under the players' feet - especially when the big men congregated for weighty activity such as the set scrum.

Wales coach Warren Gatland blamed the pitch for the scrumming farce.

Malherbe copped a few penalties but so did his direct opponent, Gethin Jenkins. The Welshman, in his 99th Test for Wales, and Coenie Oosthuizen served concurrent sentences in the sin bin for repeated infractions at the scrum.

"There was a bit of a problem. The surface wasn't very good," recounted Malherbe.

"It broke up a lot. We went down a lot and it was 50-50. I got penalised, he got penalised.

"It was very bad and you can't really do anything about it," said Malherbe.

Hooker Bismarck du Plessis was loath to apportion blame.

"I don't know what the problem was but there definitely was a problem. I thought with the new rules we adapted quite quickly but we struggled in this game," said Du Plessis.

Coach Heyneke Meyer said: "We don't want to make excuses. We just want to go out there and fix it. We didn't do well. It's the same for both sides. We have been scrumming well this whole year."

Despite spending an inordinate amount of time face down in the turf, Malherbe rather enjoyed his first outing in illustrious company.

"It was awesome. It is lovely to have my first cap. This is an awesome place. It was great having a win on our debut.

"I was always confident. They kept me calm throughout."

Du Toit, who made it on as a second-half substitute, was as perpetually delighted as a Labrador puppy afterwards.

"It was something I dreamt of. It was a big honour for me to go on," said Du Toit.

"Some of the senior guys really stood up. Guys like Jaque Fourie, Bismarck du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss.

"We made a few mistakes that we are not happy about. I thought we could have scored a few more tries but we are very happy with the win," said the young Shark.