The Springboks showed they are on the right track going into the global spectacle with a record 35-7 victory against the All Blacks at Twickenham on Friday in their third and final warm-up game, and while the players said it would boost their confidence, their feet were planted flat on the ground after the resounding result. 

“It was a great game and a special occasion,” said Willemse, who was named the player of the match. “It was a good team win for us and we are over the moon. We can take a lot of confidence from this into the World Cup, which is only a few days away.

“We are very happy with the way we played. But that said there are a few things we have to work on, and we’ll get back to the drawing board on Monday and work on that.

“We are facing Scotland in our first game, and they are a quality outfit.”

Moodie, who earned his first start at centre in the Bok jersey in the match, shared these sentiments and said: “We had a record win against Wales and now the All Blacks, and we’ll take a lot of confidence from that, but we still have a lot of work to do.

“The next challenge is Scotland and that is probably the biggest game for us, so it’s important to remain in control of what we have to do to go into that match as well prepared as possible.”

Willemse attributed his player of the match award to teamwork: “I must give credit to the forwards. They gave us a great platform to attack from and that’s where it all started.

“Personally I’d just like to continue working on my fundamentals. It was great to get some minutes under the belt, and I plan to go back on Monday and see if I can improve on my game.”

Moodie, meanwhile, was satisfied with his first run at centre after establishing himself as a top-class wing in the team and said: “I’ve played centre for most of my career, so although it wasn’t necessarily easy, everyone prepared me well in the week. Guys like Jesse (Kriel) and Lukhanyo (Am) are always helping me out and that makes my job much easier.”

Willemse thanked the sea of South African fans that made their way to a packed Twickenham stadium and said: “As South Africans we are lucky to have a lot of support in London and we’d like to thank them for coming out and cheering us on, we certainly felt it out there.”

The Springbok Rugby World Cup squad made the journey from London to Corsica on Saturday for their World Cup training camp and will arrive at their World Cup base in Toulon on Sunday, 3 September.

The five players in the “ready to go” squad, who travelled with the team to the UK – Jean-Luc du Preez, Joseph Dweba, Handre Pollard, Lukhanyo Am and Thomas du Toit – returned to their clubs. They are all on standby should the team suffer any injuries during the World Cup.