Springbok rugby fans have every reason to feel a little bit unhappy today after the team’s 23-13 defeat to the All Blacks on Saturday.
But it wasn’t the worst game to lose in terms of how the tournament is expected to pan out.
Coach Rassie Erasmus’ men should win the rest of their matches in Pool B.
As runners-up of this group, they will go into the bottom half of the draw in the knockout phase.
If things go according to plan, they will face the winners of Pool A - that is expected to be the world’s top team, Ireland. Not the easiest of matches, but if they can get through that one, they will face either Wales or Australia in the semifinal.
The All Blacks, meanwhile, look set to face Scotland in the quarters and then possibly England in the semis.
Eddie Jones’ Roses are a real threat in this tournament and perhaps the team you wanted to avoid.
But the Boks must still get there and to get there, they have shown that they have a number of things to improve on.
One area of concern was their ball handling in their opener on Saturday.
And one player in particular who gave possession away cheaply was Faf de Klerk.
Over the last few years, De Klerk has emerged as South Africa’s best scrumhalf.
But so far this year he hasn’t been at his best in the Green and Gold and maybe Erasmus should look at replacing him with the in-form Herschel Jantjies.
Next up for South Africa is a match against neighbours Namibia and you can expect a number of changes to the team that played against the All Blacks.
But even if they do win by a big margin, those second-stringers would want to go out and prove that they can do the basics better than the current “first team”.
While Cheslin Kolbe was simply superb in the clash and his wing partner Makazole Mapimpi made a try-saving tackle, I believe it is time for a change-up in the back three.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: SA wing Makazole Mapimpi. Picture: Rebecca Naden/Reuters.
Fullback Willie le Roux was again not at his best, while Mapimpi doesn’t offer much in terms of attacking options. He’s a great finisher, but Sbu Nkosi is simply a bigger threat on attack.
Introducing either Warrick Gelant or Frans Steyn at the back of the line and Nkosi replacing Mapimpi should be the way to go.
Apart from ball-handling, the other big issue for the Boks against the All Blacks was their discipline.
Having conceded nine penalties to the four of the Kiwis, South Africa have to improve in this department, while their defence is also a cause for concern.
With a total of 35 missed tackles, the Springboks didn’t man up for this encounter.
But all in all, they will be satisfied that this performance came at the start of the competition and not in the knockout phase. Erasmus can now only build on the mistakes made.
POWERHOUSE: Fiji ace Peceli Yato. Picture: Edgar Su/Reuters.
As for the rest of the tournament, the opening weekend was a blast.
Russia put up a great fight against Japan and actually scored the first try of the tournament.
Fiji then gave the Wallabies a real scare and just ran out of steam towards the end of the encounter - perhaps conditioning letting them down.
But in terms of skill and physicality, they surprisingly had the better of the southern hemisphere giants before going down.
Big loose forward Peceli Yato deserves special mention for his efforts in this match and was a powerhouse on attack before leaving the field with concussion.
Able to cover a number of positions, losing Yato was a big blow for the Fijians and led to them losing a lot of momentum. But what they proved is that they are in Japan to compete.
The match of the opening weekend was undoubtedly the encounter between France and Argentina.
HUMDINGER: Les Bleus applaud fans after win over Argies. Picture: Issei Kato/Reuters.
It went down to the wire as expected, with France eventually winning the match 23-21 as the Argies missed a last-minute shot at goal.
So while the Springboks didn’t get a winning start to the tournament, it was still one heck of an opening weekend.
Yes, New Zealand were the winners, but I just get the feeling that South Africa are better off not facing England in the semis.
Rugby romantics would obviously like to see a repeat of the SA v NZ match in the final and while it is a possibility, the opening weekend of the tournament has shown us that anything can happen.