Four of Springbok coach Harry Viljoen's players have given his game plan, with the emphasis completely on a ball-in-hand approach, an unequivocal thumbs-up.

And their teammates are as excited about the game plan exhibited in a frantic first 40 minutes of Sunday's Test against Argentina, won 37-33 at the River Plate Stadium.

Charl Marais, who replaced John Smit at hooker at halftime, said they tried something new and that may have had something to do with the fact that their game fell flat in the second half.

Marais said: "I think the frantic pace of the first half sapped the energy of the guys and in the second half we battled a bit. But we played against a very passionate and very emotional team with their supporters right behind them.

"I think we now have something to build upon. There were a lot of good things and there were some things that weren't as good. But we'll work on it."

He added that their defence was one of the worrying aspects and that they'll have to improve before taking on Ireland, England and the Barbarians.

Athletic flanker Andre Venter agreed, saying there were a lot of positives to be taken out of the game. "The fact that we didn't kick surprised everybody.

"The first half worked out well for us - in fact, in the second half when we started to kick it, we looked like we didn't know what we're doing," he quipped. "I think it went well, but there is always room for improvement."

He was especially chuffed with the Springboks' scrummaging effort against the mighty Pumas pack. "We scrummed well right from the start. I think Andre Markgraaff's input, together with Ian McIntosh, helped a lot and we did brilliantly."

Lock Albert van den Berg said it was nice to be part of an exciting new brand of play and said the first half was particularly good. He agreed the frantic pace of the first half had much to do with the not-so-impressive second half effort.

"We played very well in the first half and it was good to see the guys committing themselves to something new."

Fullback Thinus Delport, who impressed with his strong runs from the last line of defence, was equally excited about Viljoen's vision for Springbok rugby.

"Any Springbok win is a win. We tried out a new game plan and it worked well in the first half. In the second, it didn't when we got a bit tired. We didn't kick at all in the first half and the Argentinians came back and all credit to them."

The strong runner said he is all for the new game. "If I know my support players are going to be there, then it's easy to start running. It's when you don't know whether they're going to be there when things get difficult.

"But it's a completely new game we have to get used to and it's going to take a while."