The Springboks bounced back from their disastrous defeat to Japan in the opening match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in stunning fashion on Saturday, ensuring a smooth well-oiled South African squad crushed Samoa with a 46-6 scoreline in Birmingham to get their campaign back on track.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer was excited and pleased by his team’s winning performance against the strong Samoans.

“We’re a country that needs hope and forgiveness working for each other. We really want to make the country proud. Our country needs a lot of hope and the Springboks are the hope of the country,” Meyer stated in the post match press conference.

“When the Springboks do well the country’s in a good place. It’s been a tough week. It was always going to be a tough game against Samoa. We now have to keep our feet on the ground, stay humble. There’s a long way to go,” he added.

He spoke with pride about the way his defence was able to subdue a tough opponent, singling out that element of his team’s performance for praise.

“I’m proudest of our defence. Samoa are a good side, but they couldn’t get the go-forward. The players put their bodies on the line – it was very physical out there. There was a lot of criticism of the team so to go out there and perform like that, you have to salute them,” he added.

Terrible News

The good news was soon followed by a sad consequence, as captain Jean de Villiers suffered another fractured jaw in the encounter, putting him out of the remaining World Cup matches.

The skipper was forced to return home from England so that he could be replaced by Jan Serfontein for the remainder of the tournament.

This news is incredibly sad for De Villiers, as he had done phenomenally well to return from a devastating knee injury suffered in November, 2014 to be fit and ready for action ahead of the World Cup.

Then, in a match against Argentina, the captain suffered a jaw fracture that would see him recover for a further four weeks, returning in time to take part in the flagship rugby tournament, but he has now re-fractured the jaw and will play no further part in the competition he so desperately wanted to win.

Meyer reacted to the sad news by praising his captain for the role he plays in the team, and letting the media know that he will be terribly missed.

“Jean is not only our captain and one of the most experienced players in the squad, but he is also the glue of this team and to lose him is very sad. After injuring his knee last November in Cardiff, he worked incredibly hard to get back to full fitness and the plans worked out perfectly, but rugby is a physical sport and injuries happen,” the coach revealed, according to SuperSport.

“We are all very heart-broken for him and we will miss his influence a lot. He has been very unlucky with injuries, but his character clearly showed when he had to go back on the field when Jesse Kriel picked up an injury. Jean has fought back from all his injuries and this is the kind of character and fighting spirit we will need to show going forward in this competition,” he added.

“While this is a huge and emotional set-back for the team, we will now have to regroup and refocus before we start our preparations for Saturday’s match against Scotland.”

Serfontein is set to join the team on Monday, while a new Springbok captain will be named in the coming days.