Heyneke Meyer apologises to South African nation after Japan defeat
Sunday 20 September 2015 00:04, UK
Heyneke Meyer issued an apology to the people of South Africa after watching his side lose to Japan in their Rugby World Cup opener.
A try from Karne Hesketh in the 84th minute earned Japan an incredible 34-32 win over Meyer's men at the Brighton Community Stadium, with South Africa left to rue their indiscipline throughout the match.
"I have to apologise to the nation. It was just not good enough. It was unacceptable and I take full responsibility," Springboks coach Meyer said.
"Every time we got playing we scored tries, but our discipline was just not good enough. You can't give away soft penalties. There are no easy games in this competition.
"I said before, this will be the toughest World Cup ever and I think there will be more shocks. I still believe we can win the World Cup, but I have to press some hard buttons to try to fix it."
South Africa's Fourie du Preez, who plays his club rugby in Japan, described the result as the low point of his career and admitted the Springboks had been "outsmarted".
"I've been playing there [Japan] for four years, so I knew what was coming. I tried to let the guys know during the week that they are a proper nation," Du Preez said.
"They were probably just better prepared than us, they had a lot of focus areas where they targeted us. They just outsmarted us."
And captain Jean de Villiers added: "We're at a loss for words to describe our performance.
"We have to take responsibility for this performance because it's way below par for the standards we set. It wasn't good enough by a long shot. Credit should go to Japan for the way they stuck it out."
