Johannesburg - Siya Kolisi celebrated becoming South Africa's first black Test captain by leading his country to a thrilling 42-39 triumph over England on Saturday in the first Test in Johannesburg.

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Trailing by 21 points after 18 minutes, the Springboks staged a magnificent rally to lead 29-27 at half-time and held off a late England charge to succeed in a 10-try festival.

"It was a beautiful game," said beaming loose forward Kolisi, the 61st captain of the Springboks in their 127-year history.

"I think since last week we worked really hard to make sure that we were ready for this game.

"To see everybody here at Ellis Park, we really appreciate it. Thank you everybody for coming out this evening.

"I did not have to say much when we were in trouble because everybody was calm. We knew we were going to rock and the guys picked up the momentum.

"Obviously there are a lot of things we must work on, making sure that we start off better than we did today.

"Our three debutants did exactly what they were picked for. I'm so proud of Sibusiso Nkosi, Aphiwe Dyantyi and RG Snyman."

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England captain and cenvtre Owen Farrell said: "We got off to a good start, but then our discipline slipped.

"We will need to have a good look at the game - we need to make sure we stick together and become an even tighter unit.

"We will study the footage and make sure we get the technical bits right for the second Test next weekend."