South Africa (21) 59
Tries: Habana 4, Montgomery 2, Fourie, Pietersen
Cons: Montgomery 5
Pens: Montgomery 3
Samoa (7) 7
Tries: Williams
Cons: Williams
South Africa survived a brutal first-half battering by Samoa as they opened their World Cup campaign with an impressive victory in Paris.
The Springboks took a 9-0 lead before Samoa scored the first try of the match through Gavin Williams.
Brian Habana and Percy Montgomery tries gave the Boks a 21-7 half-time lead.
And further tries from Jaque Fourie, Montgomery, Habana - who claimed a second-half hat-trick - and JP Pietersen wrapped up a fine win.
With two of the most physical teams on the planet taking the field at the Parc des Princes the match always promised to be a bash-fest and so it proved as they combined to put on a thrilling opening 40 minutes.
Man for man the Samoans could match their Springbok counterparts for power but in the tight phases of the game, the scrum and the line-out, the Springboks had a clear edge.
And it meant that, once they had weathered a ferocious opening half from the Samoans, the Springboks had control of the game.
The fired-up Samoans gave it a lash from the first whistle.
Former Leicester number eight Henry Tuilagi producing some ferocious charges, but poor discipline allowed Montgomery to make them pay with three penalties in the opening 15 minutes.
The Pacific Islanders' inability to secure their own ball at the line-out was costing them dear but when they finally managed some decent possession they opened the scoring with a superb try.
Quick ball off the top was spun wide to inside centre Jerry Meafou and the timing of his pass sprung Williams through the South Africa midfield.
The Connacht centre outpaced the cover to score under the posts and he added the conversion to make it 9-7 to the Boks.
The quicker the pace of the game the more dangerous Samoa looked, but the quickest man on the pitch was South Africa flyer Habana and his first real contribution to the game saw the Boks stretch clear.
When he took Fourie's pass as the Boks attacked down the blind-side of a ruck there looked to be little on.
But the electric Blue Bulls winger carved infield before breaking free of a tackle and scything through the remaining defence for a superb solo try.
Montgomery missed the fairly simple conversion but South Africa were soon back on the attack and after a series of attacking scrums Montgomery blasted through the final defender for the Springboks' second try.
The veteran full-back added the conversion to make it 21-7 at the break but Samoa came desperately close to cutting the gap when Iosefa Fekori plunged over straight after the restart, but he was pulled back for offside.
If the try had been awarded Samoa might still have been in with a shout but within little more than 10 minutes South Africa had cut loose with a quickfire try treble.
Fourie cut back against the grain to burst through the midfield and open his account for the tournament before Montgomery finished off a sweeping passing move to cross out wide.
Habana then collected his second spectacular long-range score of the match, beating three men on a dazzling run to the line, and two Montgomery conversions meant South Africa suddenly led 40-7 after an hour's play.
The burst of scoring knocked the stuffing out of the Samoans and the pride they would have taken in the sight of 35-year-old Brian Lima coming on as a replacement would soon have evaporated.
When he took the field Lima became the first man to play in five World Cups, but he soon got a high tackle horribly wrong, conceding a penalty in the process, and was helped groggily from the field.
As the game went on South Africa were happy not to pick up any injuries, while Habana confirmed his status as the world's most dangerous finisher with two more tries.
Montgomery converted the first effort and the Springboks will head into Friday's encounter with faltering world champions England brim full of confidence.
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South Africa: Montgomery; Pietersen, Fourie, De Villiers, Habana; James, Du Preez; Du Randt, Smit, Van der Linde, Bakkies Botha, Matfield, Burger, Smith, Rossouw.
Replacements: Du Plessis, BJ Botha, Muller, Van den Berg, Januarie, Pretorius, Steyn.
Samoa: Lemi; Faatau, Williams, Meafou, A Tuilaga; Sapolu Fuimaono, Poluleuligaga; H Tuilagi, Setiti (capt), Leo; Thompson, Fekori, Johnston, Schwalger, Va'a.
Replacments: Fuga, Lealamanua, Vaeluaga, Purdie, Sevealii, Crichton, Lima.
