South Africa were placed in Pool C of the 2009 competition held in Japan. They emulated their 2008 form, winning all three of their pool matches – they beat Fiji 36–10, Italy 65–3 and France 43–27 to finish top of the pool. They again lost to England in the semi-finals (losing 21–40), but again bounced back by winning the third-place play-off match, this time beating Australia 32–5.