After the reception the visitors trained at Victoria Park before being taken on a drive around Auckland. Of the 29 players, 23 had served in World War 1. These men were entertained by the Auckland RSA, of which they were made honorary members. That evening the team left for Wanganui, where the tour opener was to be played the following day.

The Springboks were accorded a civic reception on their arrival, after which they left for Cook‘s Gardens where a crowd of 10,000 eagerly awaited the start of the tour.

Wanganui fielded a strong side which was expected to give the visitors a hard game. The stars of the local team were ‘Snowy’ Svenson, later to become the outstanding wing of the 1924 A11 Blacks, at centre; 1920 All Black captain Jim Tiltyards at halfback; and ‘Moke’ Belliss, who played 20 matches for New Zealand between l920 and 1923, at wing forward. The fullback Collier represented North Island in 1925.

The weather was fine but there was a strong wind as Pienaar and Tilyard led their teams onto the field. The home captain, having won the toss, elected to play with the wind behind him.

The match began in a sensational manner with the visitors immediately on attack and van Rooyen leading a rush into Wanganui territory. The visiting forwards heeled quickly and Michau sent a splendid pass to de Keck, who spun the ball to his threequarters. Using his great pace to advantage, van Heerden ran round his marker to score in the comer, too far out for de Villiers to convert.

After play had been in progress for 16 minutes, de Kock injured his ankle and left the field. Pienaar came out of the forwards but the visitors continued to dominate the scrums. Winning plenty of possession, the Springbok forwards were able to feed their backs constantly, and a spate of passing rushes had Wanganui defending. Zeller was thrown into touch at the corner but the pressure was maintained and from a loose forward scramble ‘Royal‘ Morkel emerged with the ball. When tackled he passed to Kruger, who scored in Collier’s tackle. De Villiers convened.

With the score at 8-0 as the teams changed ends, it was still anybody‘s game. Wanganui applied the pressure, keeping the visitors in their own half. A determined passing rush took play to the South African 25, where the Springboks were caught offside and Jackson kicked a good goal. Wanganui continued to hold the upper hand and Tilyard made a dash on the blindside before working the ball back to his forwards. O’Connell forced his way over but Scott’s kick was wide of the posts.

Play was fairly even for the remainder of the game and was centred around midfield for some time. From a Wanganui forward rush O’Connell was caught offside and de Villiers kicked a magnificent goal from near halfway. This marked the end of the scoring and gave South Africa a narrow 11-06 victory.

The Springboks were obviously tired after their long train journey and should not have been expected to play so soon after their arrival. However, they looked impressive most of the time, with van Heerden and Zeller brilliant on the wings. At fullback de Villiers was outstanding, and de Kock looked very good during the brief period he was on the field. ‘Royal’ Morkel, Kruger and van Rooyen stood out in a very solid pack which dominated the game throughout, but the South African scrummaging looked as though it could be improved.

Belliss played brilliantly for Wanganui and looked certain to retain his place in the All Blacks for the tests. The home backs had few opportunities, but Svenson made some good runs and defended well.