South Africa’s unexpected defeat at the hands of Japan last Saturday was probably the biggest upset in World Cup history, and it sparked an angry response from everyone back home.
Speaking on Sunday, the country’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula lambasted the side in public, saying that they would be "nothing else but a bunch of losers, who failed to represent the country" if they lost their next game.
With the Springboks back in action today against Samoa at Villa Park, Birmingham in their second pool match, we wanted to get an idea of the mood of the South African nation stung by defeat.
Former Ireland captain and South Africa sevens skipper Dion O’Cuinneagain joined Brian O'Driscoll and Off The Ball on the line from Cape Town to give us an insight into the reaction down there.
"I think they approached this World Cup with a lot of arrogance," said O'Cuinneagain, explaining that there has much talk about South Africa playing their way into form - an approach which saw them caught cold by Japan - and also spoke about the doubts in South Africa that they can reach the semi-finals as they pick themselves off the canvas.
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