South Africa hooker Bismarck du Plessis has expressed his confidence in the Springboks to bounce back from their shock opening-weekend defeat to Japan at the Rugby World Cup, insisting that there is no anger in the team.

Two-time champions South Africa conceded an 84th-minute try in Brighton on Saturday to lose their opening World Cup match for the first time ever.

Du Plessis, who scored the second of four Springbok tries at The Amex Stadium, said that anger was not the overriding emotion when the players left the stadium on Saturday evening.

He told reporters today: "I have never been on a more quiet bus than the one from Eastbourne to Birmingham, 99.9% of the guys were just listening to their own music, or reading the newspaper or reading a book. You have to deal with it yourself first.

"The nice thing is the sun comes up again. You have to stay positive and stay focused for the weekend. You can't go out and have that anger in you. You have just got to stick to your process."

South Africa next face Samoa, who beat USA in their opening match, on Saturday at Villa Park in Birmingham.