South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer does not care which side the Springboks play in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, as long as it is not Japan.
His sides rout of the US on Wednesday mean the 1995 and 2007 world champions can more confidently look forward to the last eight, but their minds keep going back to their nightmare opening Pool B match, in which Japan delivered a last-minute sucker punch to secure a stunning 34-32 win.
Wins since over Samoa, Scotland and now the US ensured South Africa topped their group. They face the losers of tomorrow’s Pool A clash between Australia and Wales in a quarter-final at Twickenham on Saturday next week.
Photo: AFP
“It’s going to be cracker of a game, but it depends what happens on the day,” Meyer said of their next assignment.
Asked who out of Australia and Wales he would rather avoid, Meyer — in a rare show of humor — told reporters: “The only team I would not want to face is Japan, because it almost cost me my... I won’t go into that now.”
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