Meyer banking on World Cup 'diamonds'
The Springboks coach, who caused an uproar with the selection of uncapped scrumhalf Rudy Paige in his 31-man squad, said once the emotions have settled over his selections, people will realise that these players will "make their country proud".
Meyer, who described the past week as the most difficult of his life, has had to deal with political interference and injuries that robbed key players of precious game time – as he searched for a combination that can win on the biggest and toughest stage in the game.
"I just hope the hole nation will rally behind us an support us right to the end," Meyer said, when asked over the vastly different opinions and criticism of his selection.
He was also very clear over the type of player he is taking to England next month.
"I have really thought about what has made my teams special in the past, what won trophies," the Bok mentor said.
"I believe it is like coal," he said, adding: "Coal by itself doesn't mean much, but when you put it under pressure it turns into diamonds.
"Players who shine like diamonds are the guys who win World Cup finals, because the pressure is immense."
Then there are the injured players, who have hardly played this year or are still carrying injuries.
Captain Jean de Villiers (serious knee surgery and then a fractured jaw), Duane Vermeulen (neck), Jannie du Plessis (knee), Fourie du Preez (knee), Willie le Roux (ankle), Francois Louw (shoulder) and Coenie Oosthuizen (neck) are all still recovering from various injuries.
However, the coach believes they will be good to go when the Springbok campaign gets underway against japan in Brighton on September 19.
"The best medical scenarios were taken into consideration with the selection process," he said.
"Our medical team have worked incredibly hard with these players and we're confident they will be ready to be considered to play Japan," the coach added.
"Although they have not been able to train fully with the rest of the squad at times, they have really worked hard on their fitness and all of them are incredibly fit, some of them in the best shape of their lives."
He admitted that there could be some concern that a lot of the squad members have not had much game time.
"However, if you take a guy like Lood [Lodewyk de Jager], he did not play for the entire Super Rugby season. Then he came off the bench [in the Rugby Championship match against Australia] and in the next game [when he started against New Zealand] he was probably the man of the match.
"I believe in these guys, they are mentally tough.
"I know these guys are match-winners and when the pressure is on they will come through for me."
Meyer said cutting the squad to 31 was probably "the most difficult selection I have faced in my coaching career" and said there was "a lot of crying".
However, they said goodbye to the players not selected in the most appropriate way.
The players also know there is a risk of injury and those fringe players are on standby.
"In the end, the selectors decided the 31 players named were the best we have at the moment, but that is not to say any of the others won't have a role to play – with injuries a reality in our game.
"Because of the size of the squad, we also had to give more consideration to utility players, who can move around between positions. – such as Schalk Brits and Pieter-Steph du Toit, both of whom can play in the back row.
"Coenie Oosthuizen can pack down on both sides of the front row.
"A number of our backs, such as JP [Pietersen], Ruan [Pienaar], Patrick [Lambie], Handré [Pollard], Damian [de Allende], Jesse [Kriel], Lwazi [Mvovo] and Zane [Kirchner] are comfortable playing in more than one position.
"I think the squad has a great balance between youth and experience, keeping together the core of the team that did the country proud in the last few years.
"We also have a number of players who know what it takes to win a World Cup and their knowledge will be invaluable.
"We are going to England with the hopes of the nation on our shoulders and we would truly like the to make our nation proud, but are under no illusions about how tough it will be.
"The gap between all the nations playing in the tournament has shrunk over the years and this will probably be the closest World Cup yet.
"But the players have really worked very hard over the last two months and by time we get to Eastbourne for our first match, we'll hopefully be firing on all cylinders."
While a number of players were unlucky to miss out on selection, there is a seven player standby list in case any of the squad members has to withdraw when they get to England.
"There's a standby list, they know where they stand. I'm 100 percent confident that guys will be fit," Meyer said.
"The medical advice I've got is that every single guy will be available for first game. Those with injuries have recovered well and we're hoping to have all 31 players available."
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