South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer has conceded that his side's Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Wales this afternoon could have gone either way.
The gap between the two sides was never more than six points throughout a gripping 80 minutes, but the Springboks ultimately booked their place in the last four when Fourie du Preez's late try clinched a 23-19 win.
Meyer's side had a longer rest ahead of the match than Wales, who had battled through the 'Pool of Death', and the South Africa coach believes that could have made a difference, along with his side's strength off the bench.
"I think it helped that we haven't played since last Wednesday. It's probably the strongest bench I've ever picked so I just said that we had to keep on believing," he told Sports Mole.
"They showed a lot of composure and we said at half time just keep on believing right until the end. When the fresh guys came on we turned it around. They had a really tough game against Australia which was more or less the same - it could have gone either way. The margins are so small.
"The character of the team really came through. We used the bench well, and that try was just genius. You need that in games. I think composure and the fresh players made a huge difference."
South Africa will now face either defending champions New Zealand or France in the semi-final next weekend.
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