The Springboks pummeled rivals the All Blacks at Twickenham on Saturday night in their final Rugby World Cup warm-up game, which will be a confidence booster ahead of the tournament, but coach Jacques Nienaber has tempered the victory somewhat, telling his side they still have work to do before their arrival in France to defend their title.

The record 35-7 victory over New Zealand may have been unexpected, and Nienaber is also not resting on his laurels, calling on his charges to work on rounding off the opportunities they create, after allowing several chances slip past them in London.

Despite this, the Springboks outscored the All Blacks five tries to one. The New Zealand media have not been kind to their side, who have been labelled as ill-disciplined, after two yellow cards and a red card for Scott Barrett. It’s not the warm up to the Rugby World Cup that anyone expected New Zealand to have.

🟥 The incident which resulted in Scott Barrett's second yellow card and the All Blacks being reduced to 14 men for the rest of the game.pic.twitter.com/JvzSRYjnHZ

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) August 25, 2023

ALSO READ: Boks firmly focused on Rugby World Cup after Wales victory

“This was a proper test, and it was exactly what we wanted before the World Cup,” said Nienaber. “Wales play a different style of rugby to New Zealand, who pride themselves on their high intensity and high tempo game, so it was good preparation for us.

“That said, we have hard work ahead before the World Cup. We had several opportunities to score tries which we didn’t convert, so we’ll zoom in on that in Corsica and hopefully we can improve on that before our opening match.”

Highlights: Relive the action as the #Springboks put on a brilliant performance against New Zealand at Twickenham on Friday evening – watch here: https://t.co/Apk8lWAcaZ 🎥#StrongerTogether #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/iimO2qMlIC

— Springboks (@Springboks) August 25, 2023

Springbok captain and flank Siya Kolisi praised the 80 000-strong crowd that made their way to Twickenham on what was a neutral ground for both teams – most of whom were South African supporters – and said: “It was amazing to see the number of South Africans lining the streets on the way to the stadium. The coaches told us before the match that whenever we need them they are here for us, and they came out strongly today.

“That’s why we couldn’t hold back in this match, we had to give it all, and we did that as a team.”

The young Canan Moodie also impressed, with many saying he is the next Bok legend in the making:

“Hey Google”

Show me the most-amazing try ever, not rewarded.

Canan Moodie can play 13 🤫 #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/EA43AD3TS5

— Darren (@SaffasRugby) August 25, 2023

Commenting on the late injury withdrawal of Willie le Roux, who was replaced by Kwagga Smith after battling to recover sufficiently from a knock to the ribs at training, which saw a seven-one split in favour of the forwards, Nienaber said: “It was an unfortunate incident and we didn’t want to risk Willie.

“With the way games have been playing out, there are times when your forwards have to play in the backline, and this offered us the same option.

“It gave us a taste of how to manage things if we perhaps get an injury in a match. Obviously, the least risk would be selecting a five-three split, and a six-two split holds a little more risk, and then a seven-one split is the most-high risk.”

The Springboks depart for a week-long training in Corsica on Saturday and will arrive at their Rugby World Cup base in Toulon on Sunday, 3 September.

Their opening Rugby World Cup clash against Scotland in Marseille is on Sunday, 10 August.