Coach Heyneke Meyer believes South Africa can beat anyone at the World Cup despite suffering a second successive Rugby Championship loss.
Richie McCaw caught the Springboks napping at a line-out to score a late try and give New Zealand a come-from-behind 27-20 victory before a sell-out 63,000 Ellis Park crowd in Johannesburg.
Heyneke Meyer takes charge of the Boks for his 39th Test. #Passion #HomeGroundAdvantage #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/9w21obtfJW
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) July 25, 2015
Defeat for the Springboks came one week after they conceded an even later try to fall 24-20 against Australia in Brisbane.
South Africa host Argentina on August 8 in their final southern hemisphere championship fixture and play a Test in Buenos Aires a week later before the mid-September World Cup kick-off in England.
Meyer, lacking several likely first-choices because of injuries, exuded confidence even though his side suffered a sixth defeat in seven matches against the All Blacks.
“The mental strength and attitude of the squad bodes well for the World Cup,” he said.
– Practice makes perfect for All Blacks star McCaw
– Wallabies coach backs side to beat anyone
– UAE Premiership & Gulf Top Six get revamp
– Moore swaps Saracens for Abu Dhabi rivals Quins
“The guys know they can beat anyone. We came within inches of beating the All Blacks and the Wallabies.
“I know we are inches away from clicking after producing some brilliant attacking play at times. We are progressing well and it will be a very fit and strong squad of 31 that travels to England during September.”
Meyer said injuries disrupted his plans against world champions New Zealand.
“I had to use the bench much earlier than we wanted because of injuries to Jannie du Plessis, Vincent Koch, Lood de Jager and Francois Louw. Both our starting tighthead prop (Du Plessis) and his replacement (Koch) had to go off at times when we were scrumming well,” he said.
