South African rugby coach Peter De Villiers has come out and said that Fiji will be a major threat when the two teams meet in their World Cup encounter on Saturday night.

De Villiers said the days when you had minnows in the World Cup are over and there are no easy games.

The outspoken coach said some people are saying that New Zealand are the team to beat in this RWC but De Villiers feels that given how countries have improved across the board, getting there to meet the All Blacks is a hell of a job.

However he believes the Springboks group will leave them in better shape in the quarter finals than rivals from other pools.

Peter De Villiers said South Africa’s opening game against Wales was the hardest in any of the groups and they have Samoa and Fiji in their group.

He said he is glad that he is not a Welshman this morning because they have to face Samoa at the end of the week.

South Africa will be without centre Jean de Villiers and second row Victor Matfield, who were injured against Wales, but they are expected to resume training within 10 days.

Wing Bryan Habana had some hamstring soreness in training sessions before the Wales match, but de Villiers said his replacement by reserve scrum half Francois Hougaard early in the second half was a tactical rather than a fitness decision.

Meanwhile, Flying Fijians scrum coach Michael Foley will return to New Zealand today to guide Fiji’s forwards through the important clash against South Africa.
 
Foley was not with the team during their first match of the Rugby World Cup against Namibia.

The Flying Fijians have settled well in buzzing Wellington but players are under strict guidelines going into the crucial encounter against the Boks.

Team Manager, Pio Bosco Tikoisuva said they have even gone down to things like dress code for various occasions from training to even relaxing in their hotel.