South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer believes scrums, line drives and the breakdown will be key to winning the Rugby World Cup.

Meyer's men arrived in England for the tournament, which starts next Friday, on Saturday aiming to lift the Webb Ellis trophy for the third time having previously done so in 1995 and 2007.

The Springboks open against Japan next Saturday and then face games with Samoa, Scotland and United States in Pool B.

Meyer said: "These are three areas that will determine the outcome of the tournament and we have spent a lot of time working on them

"All the opponents will be difficult and you have to approach each game as if it were a final. The challenge is to play seven great games in a row.

"We've studied Japan and it's not going to be easy. They bring a different challenge with a highly technical game. For us it is about taking off from the first game and building up momentum.

"There will be no [external] pressure on us but we will put pressure on ourselves to achieve."