TWICKENHAM, London -- Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer straight-batted any questions over his future in the wake of their two-point defeat by New Zealand as he was left to lament the errors that saw them fall short in the Rugby World Cup semi-final.

Reports in August suggested Meyer had been offered a new four-year deal, which would take him through to the 2019 World Cup, but no official confirmation was forthcoming. Now with South Africa bowing out of the World Cup at the final four stage, Meyer was asked whether he had been offered an extension to his current contract.

"You must ask SA Rugby," said Meyer. Asked whether he wanted a new deal, he joked: "Can't you see how grey I am?"

"I'm there to serve and I'll do whatever it takes. I am very disappointed about tonight as I really felt our team could do it.

"I'll only think about today and I only wanted to make the country proud and we didn't. I'm always there to serve and if you look at the guys in this team, 80 or 90 per cent of them can make the next World Cup. I really believe this team can go places. This will be one of the best teams heading forward. But I will never be satisfied losing these games; I take it personally. I'll just take it day-by-day now."

"I've seen this movie before and it's bloody horrible," was vice-captain Schalk Burger's assessment in the moments following their defeat to New Zealand and Meyer lamented how his side struggled in the rainy conditions in the second half of the match.

"We had a perfect first half; we were turning them and building scoreboard pressure," Meyer said. "But second half we didn't adapt well enough in the rainy conditions. They turned us then and it came down to discipline. Although there were more penalties in the second half, one can be the difference between winning and losing. We just couldn't build in the second half and get the points.

Meyer said their bronze final next Friday -- against the loser of Sunday's semifinal between Argentina and Australia -- is akin to "kissing your sister, it means nothing" but he will look back on their campaign with pride and the manner they regrouped after they fell to Japan in their opening match. But ultimately, he feels he and his team have fallen short in this campaign.

"I'm very proud," Meyer said. "A lot of people didn't give us a chance and we have grown as a team through great leadership. But it only counts when you are a winner, I don't believe in loser talk. It won't be good enough if you coach a team and you don't win. We had a chance today and we should have taken it."