South Africa held on to overcome Tonga 30-25 and collect a bonus point in their World Cup Pool A match.

An essentially reserve Springbok side found themselves with a narrow 7-3 halftime lead, fullback Ruan Pienaar's try and Andre Pretorius' conversion coming in reply to a Pierre Hola penalty.

The Tongans surged to a surprise lead just after the break when prop Kisi Pulu barged over for a try and Hola converted.

That prompted South Africa coach Jake White to send on several of his usual first-choice players from the bench, including Francois Steyn who kicked a penalty to draw level.

Juan Smith went over for a try and Percy Montgomery converted to get the match back on track for South Africa and Bob Skinstad's try soon after extended their lead. Pienaar made sure of the bonus point with his second try of the match.

But two tries in three minutes, from Sukanaivalu Hufanga and Viliami Vaki, put Tonga back into the match with seven minutes to go but it was not enough.

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