Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus fears facing giant-killers Japan in the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Erasmus and his team won their first match of the tournament when they smashed Namibia 53-7 on Saturday, but it wasn’t the biggest story of the tournament on the weekend.
That honour belongs to hosts Japan, who stunned Ireland 19-12.
The shock win set up a possible last-eight showdown with the Springboks - a team Japan beat at the global showpiece four years ago.
Erasmus predicted before the tournament that his team will face the hosts in the knockouts and he believes it won’t be an easy match.
Of Japan’s result against Ireland, he says: “I said when we played [Japan in a warm-up] that the score [41-7] wasn’t a true reflection of the game and I said that if we manage to get through to the quarterfinals, I was pretty sure that we might play Japan.
“I always thought Japan was a realistic contender for getting through to the quarterfinals and if they beat Scotland now they can end top of the pool. And if we manage to beat Italy then it is a realistic option that we’d be playing Japan - or a scary option!”
Of his team’s win over their neighbours, Erasmus adds: “We needed to bounce back with a win and we got that with [log] five points.”