Reuters/Johannesburg

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer  was left counting the cost of defeat to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday and while injuries may disrupt his World Cup plans further, he believes the Springboks are still capable of beating anyone.
South Africa’s 27-20 loss to the All Blacks at Ellis Park was the second week in a row they had let a lead slip late in the game. In their Championship opener in Brisbane last week, South Africa succumbed to a dramatic last gasp try from Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani, while Richie McCaw’s late try lifted New Zealand to victory on Saturday.
While the loss of key personnel to injury played a part in both losses, South Africa’s decision making was also a factor.
The Springboks turned down kickable penalty opportunities in the final 20 minutes and went in search of tries instead. Injuries have been an unwelcome theme for South Africa this year and they now face an anxious wait to assess the damage to their walking wounded.
“Jannie (Du Plessis) has a knee injury, Flo (Francois Louw) injured a shoulder and Vincent (Koch) and Warren (Whiteley) probably have broken ribs,” Meyer said. “This resulted in us having to use the bench much earlier than we wanted, and even using (hooker) Adriaan Strauss as a flanker.
“I am happy that our plans worked well, but when the injuries struck, we lost too much momentum.”
The loss of their two nominated tighthead props meant French referee Jerome Garces called for uncontested scrums at a time when South Africa were completely on top.
“It did come at a bad time for us as we were really scrumming well,” Meyer said.
There was also disappointment as lock Lood de Jager thought he had scored but was denied by the television match official (TMO), who said his outstretched arm had come up just short of the tryline with the ball.
“I thought we might have the luck with a TMO call in the second half, but like last weekend, it went against us. It is part of rugby, but I really thought we did enough to score there,” Meyer said.
Despite a second successive defeat, Meyer said his side were on the right path just months before the World Cup.
“The guys know they can beat anyone. We came within inches of beating both the Wallabies and All Blacks,” he added. “I know we are inches away from clicking.”
New Zealand skipper Richie McCaw admitted he pulled rank to score the try that brought the 27-20 triumph. The second most capped rugby Test player moved undetected into the scrum-half position as the All Blacks prepared to throw to a lineout a few metres from the Springboks line.
And hours of practice ahead of the southern hemisphere championship showdown were rewarded as McCaw darted forward to grab the Codie Taylor throw, found space and dived over. “I had to pull rank,” McCaw jokingly told reporters in Johannesburg before a long flight home to prepare for the August 8 Championship decider in Australia.
“When we practiced the move during the week there was a debate as to whether I or a half-back would execute it.
“I am pretty relieved that it worked out,” said the flanker who will equal the 141-cap world record of retired Ireland star Brian O’Driscoll by playing against the Wallabies in Sydney.
Coach Steve Hansen lauded the manoeuvre that earned world champions New Zealand a sixth victory in the past seven clashes with greatest rivals South Africa. “We practiced it throughout the week,” he said. “It was just a variation of an old move and was good enough to bring us a victory.”  
The try was converted by impressive debutant fly-half Lima Sopoaga, who completed the scoring with a last-minute penalty. It was the second consecutive weekend in which the Springboks, ranked second in the world behind the All Blacks, surrendered a lead at the death. They led Australia by 13 points in Brisbane only to be beaten by a try after the full-time siren sounded.