They must make history to do it, but the Springboks believe they can become the first team to lose a Pool match and go on to win the World Cup.
After losing 23-13 to the All Blacks in their tournament opener on Saturday, coach Rassie Erasmus is still upbeat.
Asked if the Boks can still win the tournament, he says: “Yes, we can fight back - in the game we fought back.
“To be 17-3 down at half time - I’ve seen SA teams get 50 points when they’re down like that...
“If you’re grouped with New Zealand in a pool, there is a good chance of not going undefeated through your pool.
“And then you have to fight back and try to get to the final [and win] for the first time in history, not being unbeaten.”
ON THE UP: New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen and his manne. Picture: Annegret Hilse/Reuters.
Erasmus knows his team has a lot to work on and says their discipline must improve.
The coach explains: “I think the penalty count was 11 to two. So we did 11 things wrong. We need to go and fix it. They only did two things wrong, which is unbelievably disciplined.
“We will really work hard to fix it - that [discipline] battle we lost.”
He adds: “They won it, I don’t think we lost it. They scored two tries to one, they deserve to win. “Discipline was our biggest downfall we can’t moan, but [can] say well done to them.”
BIG TROUBLE: Trevor Nyakane suffered an injury in the Springboks' Rugby World Cup opening. Picture: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix.
On top of the defeat, the Boks are also sweating on the fitness of prop Trevor Nyakane, who suffered a calf injury, while Cheslin Kolbe and Pieter-Steph du Toit both suffered from cramps in the match.
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen, meanwhile, believes there is more to come from his team, saying: “We won, so you have to be happy with that.
“Were we perfect? No, but you’re never going to be at this stage of the tournament. Very happy [that we won], but there’s plenty of stuff we can work on.”