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Deodoro - The Blitzboks may have gone down 12-5 to Australia in their final Olympic pool match on Wednesday, but that may not be the worst thing in the world.
That was the view of Juan de Jongh after the South Africans went down to their southern hemisphere rivals having been 12-0 down at half time.
It doesn't impact South Africa's progression at all - they still move through to the quarter-finals at top of pool B - but this loss could be exactly the wake-up call they need before the playoffs.
"It's very disappointing. We don't want to start a day like this, especially when it's knockout stages later on," De Jongh said.
"It's one of those things; a big learning curve and maybe a good thing for this team. It could have been the quarter-finals and we're out but we've got a second chance in life.
"It's a very good thing for us to get a wake-up call to get that hunger and fight back because when it comes to tonight we need to bring our A-game."
Skipper Kyle Brown was fully aware of how poor his side was.
"Looking back it was definitely a mental thing. We've got to switch on in games like that," he said.
Lloyd Burnard is Sport24's correspondent in Rio de Janeiro for the duration of the 2016 Olympics ...
