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Former coach Heyneke Meyer says he will never process disappointment in the Springboks’ shock loss to Japan at the 2015 World Cup.
Meyer’s Bok team fell in a 34-32 loss to Eddie Jones’s Japan at Brighton, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in all of sport, let alone rugby.
Writing his new book 7: My Notes on Leadership and Life, which goes on sale this week, Meyer says the loss will be the only result that will always haunt him.
‘I will never be able to process the disappointment of that defeat. Just when I think I have recovered to some extent, someone will ask me if it still hurts …
“My biggest mistake coaching Springbok was not asking for more time to prepare the team for the World Cup,” he said.
“When they beat us, hard work beat talent because talent didn’t work hard enough. Therefore, I take full responsibility. As coach of the Springboks, I had to insist on more time to prepare the team for the World Cup, but I did not fight enough.
Meyer added that he had never felt more lonely than when he returned to his hotel room after the game against Japan.
‘When I finally went to my hotel room and slammed the heavy hotel door behind me, I experienced the most intense feeling of loneliness I have ever felt. What I saw in the mirror was a man who hates the world and can only count on himself.
Photo: Getty Images
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