South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer has admitted that it was difficult to shut out the emotion of knowing that Friday night's World Cup bronze-medal match would be the final international appearance for some of his players.
Victor Matfield, the most-capped Springbok in history, and former world player of the year Schalk Burger hung up their boots following the 24-13 victory over Argentina, while Jean de Villiers retired earlier in the tournament and Fourie du Preez is also expected to call time on his international career.
With the likes of Bryan Habana and the Du Plessis brothers - Bismarck and Jannie - also nearing the end of their careers, Meyer paid tribute to arguably the greatest generation of Springboks to wear the green and gold jersey.
"I've got a lot of respect for the guys retiring. We knew this would be a difficult week to come back against a very good Argentina team and we said to try to keep the emotion out, but it was difficult keeping the emotion out," he told Sports Mole.
"In the back of my mind I know most of the guys are finishing. We said we don't want anything in the media that would bring more emotion. We had to focus and go out there and win tonight. There are a lot of the guys who will probably retire, and it's quite sad and emotional speaking about it, but the senior guys have been awesome for so long.
"Throughout the world they are respected, and that's important for me not just as players but as human beings as well."
Despite losing such a big chunk of experience from his squad, Meyer is optimistic for South Africa's future and believes that the new generation can become an "invincible" team in the coming years.
Barney Corkhill
