Thursday 26 September 2019 10:03, UK
Springboks lock Lood de Jager says there's no move from South Africa to panic or even press a "reset button" after the opening loss to New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup.
But De Jager also notes South Afrrica have no margin for error now in Japan and have to win every other game in Pool B, first against Namibia on Saturday, and then against Italy and Canada, to make sure of reaching the quarter-finals.
De Jager and the Springboks take heart from their progress in 2019, he said, when the Boks were unbeaten all season until the World Cup including a 16-16 draw in New Zealand and wrestled the southern hemisphere title away from the All Blacks.
The season, even if it was curtailed for the World Cup, was South Africa's best for probably a decade.
"We've been doing well the whole year, we've been very consistent," De Jager said.
"One game (the loss to New Zealand at the World Cup), where the opposition were also good and you lost, it doesn't make you all of a sudden panic about anything.
"I don't think the scoreboard reflects how tight the game really was. We clawed our way back to 17-13 with 20 minutes to go. Just one or two big moments, they handled better than us on the day."
A possible quarter-final meeting with Ireland in Tokyo on October 20 will be intriguing for the Boks coach. Rassie Erasmus worked for Irish club Munster before moving back home to take the South Africa job and knows many of the Ireland players well.
"But they know us as well so I'm not sure who would have the advantage in that match," Erasmus said. "We've got an important game against Italy along the way. I know we've got Canada and Namibia, also, but the Italy game is a game [where] in the last two years, we've had a slippery game.
"So, I must just mention them before we start talking about quarter-finals."
