The new skipper suffered costly mistakes in the defeats to Ireland and England, but he went some way to atoning for those blunders as he opened the scoring in a 17-0 win.
Buoyed by their resilience in the 22-35 round two defeat to France in Paris, interim head coach Franco Smith has kept the faith with his starting XV.
Les Bleus have not tasted Six Nations success since their 2010 Grand Slam.
Romain Ntamack raced in the bonus-point score in Paris to seal five-try France a patchy 35-22 victory over Italy.
New Azzurri boss Franco Smith has opted not to make wholesale changes following last weekend 42-0 beating at Wales.
Interim Azzurri boss Franco Smith has pulled a surprise by including an uncapped lock who has featured in the local Italian league this season for Petrarca.
South Africa ran in seven tries to all but ensure their place in the last eight.
With the Springboks up next, Conor O'Shea will be pleased that a much-changed Italian line-up still proved far too strong for an out-classed Canada.