South Africa winger Bryan Habana has called on the Springboks to make a "big statement" in Saturday's Rugby World Cup Pool B clash against Samoa.

Two-time champions South Africa lost their World Cup opener for the first time ever on Saturday when Japan, who had only won once at the World Cup previously, stunned them in Brighton with a late try.

Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer named his team for Saturday's match in Birmingham earlier today, and Habana was one of just seven players to keep their place.

"When we, as a Springboks side, do what we do well – which we didn't do well last weekend – we don't allow other teams to get the upper hand on us," Habana told reporters.

"I think other teams do get confidence when they have this feeling that you are beatable, and after our showing last week, people now do believe they can beat us.

"We have got a pretty big statement to make this Saturday in proving ourselves as one of the top-tier teams in world rugby."

By featuring against Japan, Habana equalled John Smit with 111 caps on the all-time Springboks appearance list. He will move into second on his own behind teammate Victor Matfield (124) when he plays on Saturday.