The Blitzboks beat Fiji on the buzzer, cruised past New Zealand and thumped Great Britain to top Pool A and keep their title defence alive in front of a day one crowd of 36,183 fans.

“It was a good day for us, not losing any of our matches and finishing top of the pool,” said Snyman.

“The format of the tournament is such that even one defeat can drop you out of play-off contention, so it was great to get through the day.”

The Blitzbok coach said the determination shown against Fiji and New Zealand, where they came from behind in both matches to secure the wins, was down to the character of the side.

“We came back in the second half of both matches and that was rewarding for us as a coaching staff to see,” said Snyman.

“Look, we were far from perfect and will have to be better tomorrow, especially in the execution of our plays, but the guys really dug deep. That minute before the halftime break against New Zealand, when we kept them out despite being a man down, was a crucial moment in our day.”

Snyman said their composure against Great Britain finished the day on a high: “We controlled the game nicely and left very little out there for them. That was a good finish to the day.”

Looking ahead at the match against France, a team they beat against in Dubai last weekend, Snyman said it will be a new day and a new game.

“That was then, this is now,” he said.

“We will have to come out tomorrow, be clinical and even better than today. We will have a look at them later in the evening, to see what we can expect from them tomorrow. What I do know is that we will be able to draw massive energy from the crowd on Sunday, they really are like an extra player for us.”

The medicals on Saturday evening will reveal if they will have a full squad on Sunday morning, with Selvyn Davids and Ronald Brown who picked up niggles.

“We rested Zander Reynders for the final match as well, but I am expecting him to be 100% in the morning,” the Blitzbok coach said.