South Africa were relieved to get through a "slippery" Rugby World Cup Pool B opener against Scotland, but the 18-3 victory could have come at some cost to their bid to retain their title, with lock Eben Etzebeth injured.
Second-half tries from flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse eased the Springboks to an important win, with world No 1 Ireland also in the group and only two teams advancing to the quarter-finals.
"This was always going to be a slippery one; Scotland are the No 5 team in the world and they deserve that ranking," South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber said. "For us it is the first step in the right direction."
The Boks lost Etzebeth to a shoulder injury after 26 minutes, a potentially huge blow to the team.
Meanwhile, Jesse Kriel avoided a yellow card despite making contact with Scotland No 8 Jack Dempsey.
In Bordeaux, coach Warren Gatland said Wales' nerve-wracking 32-26 victory over Fiji was "pretty significant."
He admitted there had been "some dumb decisions" taken by his players as Fiji stormed back from 32-14 down to set up a nervy finish. Had Semi Radradra not spilled the ball in the last move, Fiji would have had a kick at goal to win it.
"I was pretty frustrated and angry," Gatland said.
