Ill discipline dashes Boks’ hopes: Meyer

As we discussed whether Lancaster had any chance of surviving he said he was not a head coach and I replied that neither was Woodward, before asking him how many of them had gone back and looked at what they had written when, the then coach having demanded that he be judged on that tournament, his England side had been drubbed by South Africa in the quarter-finals in 1999.

They will now have to play in the Bronze Final against Argentina on Friday.

“I think all of us would like to win our last game in a Springbok jersey, so we’ll be up for it”.

The Springboks’ challenge was ended by a 20-18 defeat to New Zealand in the semi-finals on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on a campaign that began with a humiliating defeat to Japan.

A top-four World Cup finish is guaranteed, repeating their achievement at the 2007 tournament in France, while they also beat South Africa during this year’s Rugby Championship.

Augustine Creevy, the captain, was incredulous when it was put to him that the Boks regarded the game as “meaningless”.

But the 21-year-old Kriel, speaking at the Springboks’ hotel in Guildford, southwest of London, on Tuesday, said: “I don’t really think we’ll be looking to that for motivation”.

“It is still an awesome honour and we can still go away with third place; even though it is not what we came here for, it is still not that bad”. It was always our ambition to finish in the top three and that goal has not changed.

In the cauldron of professional sport it is hard for any coach to retain their position if they fail just once, and failing to win the World Cup will be seen as a failure in rugby-obsessed South Africa.

‘Last week (against Ireland) every bounce went our way, and we went out with the same ideas against Australia, but they dominated the breakdown and every bounce went their way.

Creevy, however, issued a warning to the men in green as he believes the Pumas have loads of fire power left. “It will be on Friday”.

“It does not mean anything to me”. It’s like kissing your sister.

But Meyer and his troops had better get their act together fast. The Boks have played 10 matches this year, won five and lost five.

Victor Matfield says the future of South African rugby is in safe hands after seeing a number of younger players make their mark at the Rugby World Cup. Du Preez’s face was heavily swollen by the final whistle and he was taken to hospital on Saturday night for an X-Ray. “I think it’s going to be one of the best teams in the world going forward”.

“Carter is one of the best that’s ever played the game and I thought Handre Pollard, our 21-year-old, was brilliant, as well as Damian, [and] Jesse”.

“You can see how grey I am”, joked Meyer when asked if he would stay in his job.

Given that America’s College rugby heartland lies in California and it was Chicago that hosted a 62,000-spectator sell-out game against New Zealand previous year, staging this game in New York represents something of a gamble.