Rugby World Cup 2015 third-place play-off: Springboks look to boost Heyneke Meyer as he fights for his future
Coach's position will be reviewed by the South African Rugby Union in December
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Your support makes all the difference.It’s the game no one wants to be involved in, but the penultimate contest of what has been a pulsating World Cup – Friday night’s third-place play-off between South Africa and Argentina – has enough riding on it for Heyneke Meyer to make it a crucial 80 minutes of rugby.
Meyer’s position will be reviewed by the South African Rugby Union in December, but the Springboks coach made it clear he believed he is the right man to take the team forward. He has this match, at London’s Olympic Stadium, before that review gets under way to underline his claim.
“It is easy to criticise and obviously I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I want to be part of the solution and see the youngsters come through,” said Meyer, whose Springboks team kicked off their World Cup campaign with defeat by Japan but then recovered to the point where they were anything but pushovers against the all-powerful All Blacks in last Saturday’s semi-final at Twickenham.
“I will always regret I couldn’t win the World Cup for my country and I will always believe in this team,” he said. “I just believe they are going to get better. This team will be invincible if they can go forward and stay together.”
Toulon-bound back-rower Duane Vermeulen hailed Meyer as one of the most inspirational coaches he has worked with and threw his weight behind his bid to stay.
“I’d love to go on with him, he’s a guy that I’ve learned a hell of a lot from and hopefully I can still do that,” said the No 8. “He’s a guy who motivates you in the way he presents himself, the way he speaks to you. It’s been an amazing four years working with him and being a part of what we’ve been trying to do.”
For the Pumas, only six of those who played in the semi-final defeat to Australia will start – the props Marcos Ayerza and Ramiro Herrera, the lock Tomas Lavanini, the flanker Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, the fly-half Nicolas Sanchez and the winger Santiago Cordero.
Argentina have beaten South Africa only once, in Durban as recently as August, but both have won this fixture before: South Africa beating New Zealand in 1999 and Argentina thrashing hosts France in 2007.
Who will win is a tough one to call, but the feeling is the result will matter a great deal to Heyneke Meyer.
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