Bronze match ‘like kissing your sister’, says Heyneke Meyer

Heyneke Meyer may be in the minority when it comes to assessing the merits of bronze finals at the Rugby World Cup.

The South Africa coach, never one to hide his emotions if his reactions, was at his rawest on Saturday night in the wake of defeat to New Zealand in an epic semi-final at Twickenham.

So the prospect of sticking around in England for an extra seven days for a third-place playoff was anathema. “Mentally, it’s very tough. It does not mean anything to me. It is like kissing your sister,” Meyer spat.

Many beg to differ, including his own player, veteran lock Victor Matfield, who said of Friday night’s date with Argentina: “It is never a meaningless game when you pull on the Springbok jersey.”

The feeling is mutual in the opposite camp with head coach Daniel Hourcade, reduced to sobbing following the Puma’s valiant defeat to Australia on Sunday and his captain Agustin Creevy both siding with Matfield.

“For us, it means a lot, every game means a lot. It would be fantastic to beat a team like South Africa”, Hourcade said, with Creevy adding of Meyer, “I don’t know why he said that. I would rather be third than fourth.”