The Springbok camp was happy with their hard-fought 37-33 win over Argentina on Sunday, but admitted that hard work lies ahead before they can lay claim to have mastered their new game plan.

Springbok coach Harry Viljoen revealed afterwards that he had instructedd his team not to kick in the first half.

Viljoen said: "I'm obviously happy with the win, but I must give credit to Argentina for their effort in the second half. I thought they played very well and kept us on the back foot. That made things difficult for us."

He admitted the replacement of the injured Grant Esterhuizen with Braam van Straaten hampered the Boks' fluidity in the second half, when they really battled to build momentum and the Pumas exerted a lot of pressure.

"We ran out of steam in the second half and it was a result of the pressure put on Argentina on us. They deserve credit for a much better performance in the second half."

He said Esterhuizen's departure definitely had an effect on the Boks performance. "It took a lot of our options out of the equation and definitely influenced our second half performance."

Bok captain Andre Vos also lauded the Pumas for their fighting spirit. "We always knew it was going to be very hard, especially coming here and playing in front of a passionate home crowd like they had today. They came out fighting in the second half and really played well."

Viljoen said the team played to only five percent of what they are capable of on Sunday. "I realise there still is a lot of work to be done.

"What we are trying to create is a new attitude and a new process and there are a few aspects of the game that's worrying. We are trying to create something special and we are only at five percent of what we want to achieve.

"It's the beginning of something - we want to take control of our own destiny and future. You'll see a different side two, three weeks from now."

But Viljoen was encouraged by the way the team embraced the ball-in-hand approach in the first half, when they had the defence at times bamboozled with the exciting interplay between backs and forwards.

"My instructions in the first half were that they are not allowed to kick the ball at all. That they didn't kick shows the commitment of the team to our game plan.

"We made mistakes and the guys had to run back to retrieve the ball a couple of times. That put us under a lot of pressure, but what I like about the whole attitude is that the players had the confidence to accept the challenge. There is something different to this new team of ours."