Canada 18 South Africa 51

In East London, South Africa unveiled their new-look rugby with a scintillating 51-18 win over Canada on Saturday night.

Yet while the Waverley Park thrashing kicked off a tough international season for the Boks in fine style, the lessons learned were few against a Canadian side where guts were plenty but options few.

The local fans, witnessing their first Springbok Test in these parts, were given a prime display of running rugby, as Andre Vos' charges kept their promise to entertain after a disappointing finish at last year's World Cup.

The win eclipsed the 20-0 scoreline in the only other game between these two sides and gave the Boks some much needed confidence ahead of next week's Test against England in Pretoria.

However, where the Boks were expecting a tough, physical match, they found none.  Canada's transformation into a running side has left them bereft of physical presence up front to unsettle their more fancied opponents.

The Boks powered up to a 27-3 lead in as many minutes as they stunned the Canadians with controlled running rugby.  Dynamo Breyton Paulse, already a household name in the Western Cape became a folk legend in the Eastern Cape when he sprinted down three quarters of the field to open the scoring untouched by any red jersey.

His opening try was followed by another 10 minutes later before the Boks added two more through Robbie Kempson (a drive close to the line) and Robbie Fleck.

The Boks, however, were guilty of a bit too much elaboration and allowed the Canadians to capitalise on their mistakes.  Al Charron dived over in the first half, with Winston Stanley crossing in the second to give the scoreline a decent ring to it.

In all, six Boks crossed for eight tries, although the scoreline could have been greater if Braam van Straaten's kicking was more on target.

Andre Vos added a try to his CV in his first game as captain but a lot of work still needs to be done to refine the playing style.

The Boks have begun in style, but unless a number of their mistakes are ironed out, the going will be much tougher against England next weekend, and the points scored will mean nothing at all.

Man of the match:  In a losing cause Canadian No.9 Morgan Williams proved just why everyone around the world is raving about him.  He wasn't afraid to take the likes of Andre Venter and Krynauw Otto on and was always looking to spark something for the visitors.  An argument can also be made for Cats skipper Rassie Erasmus or Stormers flyer Breyton Paulse.

Moment of the match:  When new Bok skipper Andre Vos crashed over for a try in his former hometown.  It was just reward for the likeable captain and capped off a satisfactory performance for him in his new role.

Villain of the match:  Considering what happened the last time South Africa played Canada -- this match was a rather tame affair!  But, Springbok centre Robbie Fleck, who was devastating on attack, spoilt a good night out with a silly trip on Morgan Williams.  It wasn't necessary in the context of the match.

The teams:

Canada:  1 John Thiel, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 Kevin Tkachuk, 4 Alan Charron (c), 5 John Tait, 6 Dan Baugh, 7 Ryan Banks, 8 Phil Murphy, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Winston Stanley
Reserves:  Mark Irvine, Ed Knaggs, Duane Major
Unused:  Gregor Dixon, Nick Milau, Harry Toews

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Selborne Boome, 5 Krynauw Otto, 6 Johan Erasmus, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  John Smit, Thinus Delport, Corne Krige, Willie Meyer, Japie Mulder, Chester Williams
Unused:  Dan Van Zyl

Attendance:  12000
Referee:  Alan Lewis (Irl)

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Charron A.J. 1, Stanley W.U. 1
Conv:  Stewart D.S. 1
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 2

South Africa
Tries:  Barry De W. 1, Fleck R.F. 2, Kempson R.B. 1, Montgomery P.C. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Vos A.N. 1
Conv:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 4
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 1