Heyneke Meyer

Mastery of scrums, line drives and the breakdown will win the Rugby World Cup, South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer said after his 31-man squad arrived in England for the tournament on Saturday.

“These are 3 areas that will determine the outcome of the tournament and we have spent a lot of time working on them,” Meyer said.

Meyer also said winning the Rugby World Cup, which South Africa achieved in 1995 and 2007, would require playing “7 cup finals” over the next 2 months.

“All the opponents will be difficult and you have to approach each game as if it were a final. The challenge is to play 7 great games in a row.”

The Springboks, who are based on the South Coast of England in the little hamlet of Eastbourne, start their campaign next Saturday against Japan at Brighton in Pool B, with the coach suggesting it was an opportunity to give game time to players who have been working their way back to fitness after injury.

“Most of the guys coming back from injury will be in the match 23. But there are 1 or 2 who still have some hard work to do over the next weeks.

“We’ve studied Japan and it’s not going to be easy. They bring a different challenge with a highly technical game. For us it is about taking off from the 1st game and building up momentum.”

Meyer insisted his side were not favourites and said they preferred “to be under the radar, if that is possible for us”.

“There will be no pressure on us but we will put pressure on ourselves to achieve.”

South Africa’s other pool opponents are Samoa, Scotland and the USA, with the Springboks heavily fancied to finish Top of their Pool and to reach the quarter-finals.

Sport24