The Springboks recorded a comprehensive 53-18 victory over Wales at Pretoria on Saturday but Ruddock remained upbeat.

He has targeted the November 6 clash in Cardiff as an opportunity to bounce back and give South Africa a sterner test.

The game against South Africa was always going to be a difficult one, especially on the back of some withdrawals. But we'll take a lot out of the tour as a whole, Ruddock told www.icwales.co.uk.

The measure for us will be when we are back to full strength and hopefully a bit fresher when we meet the Boks again in November at the Millennium Stadium.

We have the opportunity with South Africa to strike back because that is our first game back.

Our goal has got to be to work towards that and find out where we are against a very strong team, but I would expect us to be a little bit happier after that game than we were on Saturday.