Their victory over France must have felt like a shot of morphine for the in the wars Springboks and their coach Allister Coetzee.

It in some way would have eased the pain of the devastating defeat against Ireland and Coetzee gets to fight another day‚ if not two more weekends.

He spoke of his palpable relief in the aftermath of their 18-17 win on Saturday.

“A lot of relief‚ I’d say‚" he said.

"I’m pleased and satisfied about the effort.

"It is also pleasing when they translate the hard work off the field onto the pitch.”

He stressed the point that they had learnt from their errant ways in Dublin the week before.

“They took the lessons. They adapted to the referee and they adapted to the conditions. And they were able to close out a tough match.”

“There is something special in this team.

"They were prepared to work for each other.”

The fact that his young team‚ which includes eight players with fewer than 15 caps‚ held out in the closing minutes speaks of their resolve on the evening.

They did that without captain Eben Etzebeth who departed the scene injured with around a quarter of an hour to go.

They were particularly resolute in defence as France threw the ball around with gay abandon‚ even if it at times resembled the frenetic movement of headless cockerels.

There weren’t many superstars at the Stade de France but Malcolm Marx again delivered a performance of grunt and gravitas‚ Francois Venter was incisive at inside centre and Ross Cronje almost looked himself again under less instruction to send the ball skywards.

Coetzee did concede that there was huge room for improvement.

They again fell short in the kicking department where Handre Pollard’s crooked aim almost cost them the match.

Coetzee did‚ however‚ declare himself satisfied with Pollard’s overall performance.

“Despite the poor goal kicking‚ sub standard goal kicking‚ not his best at all‚ he slotted a kick that brought his confidence back‚" he said.

"With his general play I have no problem. His goal kicking didn’t affect his play.”

He did concede‚ however‚ that it is not a position in which the Springboks have dictated in the way they perhaps ought to.

“Our flyhalves are still getting to grips with what gets the territorial battle won.

"We did overplay a bit in some stages. It is a step in the right direction and I think both of them can only improve.”

The Springboks crossed the Alps on Sunday in the hope of securing wins either side of the range.

The Azzurri will bring a different challenge and unlike the French who were happy to throw the ball around‚ the Italians will be typically‚ tactically pragmatic.

Defeat in Italy last year will still rankle with the Boks.

There remains a lot to put straight this week.