A visibly angry and disappointed Harry Viljoen was not shy to state the obvious after he watched his Springbok team get outplayed 20-10 by France to realise his worst nightmare in the opening tour match at Stade de France on Saturday.

It was the result the South African national coach dreaded the most at the start of a tour which has the November 24 clash with England at Twickenham as the highlight.

After losing their last two Twickenham matches against England, the Boks desperately needed to pick up some momentum and confidence against a French team which was heavily outweighed in terms of experience.

But instead of providing Viljoen with the solid start he was looking for, the Boks played as if they were still stunned by what they had seen on the telecast from London, where England were at times awesome in their defeat of Australia, just a few hours earlier.

Indeed, on a day when Viljoen appeared to have so few answers to his team's failure to ignite and establish any continuity, perhaps the most useful advice would be for him to ban his players from watching future opponents play on a day when they themselves are due to see action.

Bob Skinstad's team played for the most part like a side with their minds elsewhere. As was the case at Ellis Park in the opening Test of 2001 back in June, this enabled the rookie French team to get into the game and settle down.

Thanks in no small part to their own inability to convert first half territorial ascendancy and round off their better attacking movements, in no time at all the South Africans were 9-3 down and forced to play catch-up rugby.

With the French newcomers giving the lie to the theory that at Test level experience counts for everything, the Boks were comprehensively outplayed after a Pieter Rossouw try had brought a momentary glimmer of hope and a one-point lead early in the second half.

Viljoen had no excuses and after watching England's win, he was not saying anything anybody at the post-match press conference did not already know when he said his team had a mountain to climb.

He could not disagree with the pervading view of both local and international media that a fortnight was way too little time for the Boks to turn it around.

"England was always going to be tough, but I have to agree that this result could make it a lot tougher," said a glum Viljoen. "I watched the Twickenham game and was very impressed with the way England played.

"Particularly in the first half they were superb. On the evidence of this performance we have a lot of work to do if we expect to compete with them."

But Viljoen did manage to take on a philosophical view. It may sound like he is clutching at straws, but he genuinely appears to believe the result might strengthen the Bok resolve to prove themselves at Twickenham.

"It was a huge disappointment for us but we know it could work two ways," he said. "While it could make it harder and has certainly added to the pressure, it could also serve to pull the camp closer together."

He was able to draw a little consolation from what appeared to be an improved effort from the tight forwards after their dismal failure against the French in the home series. The Boks only lost one lineout ball against their throw and stood up well in the scrums.

Against the powerful England pack these phases of play will be critical as it was here that they laid the foundation for their second successive win over the world champion Aussies.

But not even the forwards completely escaped censure on a night when Viljoen looked ready to tear strips off them for their performance. "It (the forward play) was better but it was still a long way from where I want it to be. We did not quite get the go-forward that I was looking for.

"Some of the blame for that can perhaps be attributed to the backs running across the field and generally trying to play too wide. We changed our tactics at halftime. Instead of going wide we instructed the forwards to drive more.

"Initially it appeared to work and our only try came off a move which included seven or eight phases. But it did not last. We conceded way too many turnovers and it is also a concern that we were again heavily penalised at the breakdowns.

"This contributed to our inability to get continuity and we were just unable to hold onto the ball for long enough to threaten the French." - Sapa