- Springbok lock Franco Mostert acknowledged they still have some work to do to be a fighting force for the British and Irish Lions series.
- Mostert started at lock in Friday's 40-9 win against Georgia at Loftus Versfeld.
- The game was South Africa's first in exactly 20 months after their 2019 Rugby World Cup final success against England.
Springbok lock Franco Mostert acknowledges they have a fair bit of work they need to do in order to get ready for the British and Irish Lions series.
Mostert started at lock alongside Eben Etzebeth in Friday's 40-9 win against Georgia at Loftus Versfeld, seeing out the 80 minutes after Etzebeth did not play in the second half because of a rib issue.
Mostert said Warren Gatland's group, who start their tour on Saturday with a game against the Lions at Ellis Park, has world-class players.
The three-Test series between the Springboks and the Lions starts on 24 July at the Cape Town Stadium.
Mostert though added that they had a decent hit-out against Georgia.
"We watched the British and Irish Lions game against Japan together as a group. They've got world-class players, so we have to step up," Mostert said.
"However, I'm happy with how the first game went, but we still have a lot of work we need to get through.
"We still have one match to go and we're focusing on Georgia next week."
Mostert said their outing was impressive considering that Friday's game was their first in exactly 20 months.
While the Boks looked nothing like the well-oiled machine that took down England on 2 November 2019 in Yokohama, Mostert said they have a new group of players that's quickly getting up to speed with the Bok playbook.
"We haven't been together for more than a year, I think it's nearly two years, so I'm happy with the performance we put out," Mostert said.
"We've got some new guys in the team, but everybody in the system is on the same page and we will improve."