Bryan Habana took his Test try total to 50 on Saturday to help South Africa crush 14-man Samoa 56-23 at chilly Loftus Versfeld and win a four-nation tournament final.

The right-wing scored a try in each half as the Springboks overcame a slow start to lead 32-9 at half-time and the red carding of Samoa left-wing Alesana Tuilagi for a stiff-arm tackle on the hour mark ended the game as a contest.

However, Habana saw his hopes of a hat-trick dashed 10 minutes from time when he deliberately knocked on as Samoa threatened to score and spent the rest of the match in the sin bin.

“We are heading in the right direction and were much better than last week,” South Africa centre and captain Jean de Villiers said seven days after an unconvincing win over Scotland.

“It was a very tough match and I am very proud of the team. There will be a lot of sore bodies tomorrow morning after a great effort against a special Samoan side.”

Samoa captain and centre Paul Williams said: “Our lack of discipline let us down badly – we were on the wrong side of the penalty count. It was a humbling experience against a great Springbok team.”