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Cape Town - Sport24's Herman Mostert highlights FIVE talking points following South Africa's 57-3 Rugby World Cup win over Namibia at the City of Toyota Stadium.
1. 'Old man' Brits stands the test of time
South Africa's captain on the day, Schalk Brits, led by example as the Boks cruised to victory over their African neighbours.
The 38-year-old operated out of position at No 8 for 64 minutes before switching to his more customary hooker position.
For me, Brits was the standout Bok on Saturday - he was comfortable in his leadership role and slotted in seamlessly at loose forward.
His contribution was key in at least two Bok tries and he also crossed the whitewash once himself.
2. Plaudits for official man-of-the-match
Despite Brits' heroics, lock Lood de Jager was the official man-of-the-match.
And for this reason, De Jager also deserves a mention as he worked his socks off.
De Jager went the full 80 minutes and was a powerful presence throughout.
The statistics derived post-game show as much.
De Jager was fifth for the most metres gained with ball in hand (43m); made four offloads; made the most runs of any player in the match (15) and beat five defenders - sharing top spot in this regard with wing Makazole Mapimpi.
De Jager is probably not guaranteed a starting spot in the Springbok "first XV" but he would have pleased coach Rassie Erasmus with his workmanlike performance.
3. Boks not clinical enough
The Springboks should not at all be happy with their performance against Namibia. Yes, the Boks dominated in all facets but made too many errors in their execution.
The Boks only managed one try in the last 20 minutes - despite the Namibians being down to 14 men during this period - and the finishing and enterprise of the South Africans remain a worry.
Namibia would do well to keep the score below 100 when they face the All Blacks and they'll be chuffed they disrupted the Springboks in some facets.
There were too many handling errors and weak kicks to call this Springbok performance a satisfied one.
4. Set piece dominance
One area that will please coach Erasmus was the Springboks' dominance at the set pieces.
The tournament's official app revealed that the Boks were 100% (17 out of 17) at set pieces, winning possession at all 14 of their lineouts and three scrums.
They annihilated the Namibians in the scrums - the Welwitschias won only nine of 13 on their own put-in and also lost one lineout.
This set-piece dominance laid the platform for a comfortable South African victory.
5. A different quarter-final prospect for Boks?
Provided they beat Italy and Canada, the Boks will finish second in Pool B.
It was expected that they would play Ireland in the quarter-finals but Japan's shock win over the Irish has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons in Pool A.
Yes, Japan could still lose to Scotland and Samoa, but the possibility exists that the host nation could top the pool which would see them face South Africa, with New Zealand then likely facing Ireland in the quarter-finals.
There's no doubt that the Springboks would prefer facing Japan in the knockouts - they after all comfortably beat the Brave Blossoms 41-7 in a warm-up game prior to the World Cup...
