Having failed to get out of the group stages of the last World Cup they hosted in 2003, the Proteas will be under pressure to have learnt from the past. At least they know how Duckworth and Lewis works.

After a slow start in which they’ve lost both their opening Currie Cup fixtures, the Bulls are hoping to get back to winning ways against the Lions, a team they beat to win the Under-23 Cup.

As timely as the friendly against Argentina has been in terms of giving recently restored but game time-shy Boks a much needed run against tricky opponents, it has not come in time for some.

The Springboks’ one-off Test against Argentina next month could easily have not taken place, but it suddenly looms as a crucial piece of the puzzle in their preparation for the Greatest Rivalry tour.

Commonwealth Games squad omission Bayanda Walaza has continued shooting the lights out by setting a new personal best time in the 100m in Slovakia.

Yaqeen Ahmed’s heroics at the Junior World Cup came as a surprise to many fellow South Africans, but not to former Stormers scrumhalf and Wynberg director of rugby Nic Groom.

While the Bok coaches would have gotten the answers they were looking for from this win against Wales and their three Nations Championship games, they’ll still be searching for a complete performance.

With 46 missed tackles, 15 line breaks and four tries conceded in last week’s Nations Championship game against Scotland, there are fears that the famous Springbok defence may be springing a leak.

Jaco Williams, the 20-year-old making his Springbok debut against Wales on Saturday, has been plagued by injury and played only a few first-class matches, a meteoric rise nobody quite expected.

As someone who could easily have played flank, former Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis is concerned how it may affect Jan-Hendrik Wessels’ development. But he’s impressed with how it has worked.