PIC: South Africa have come up with a ridiculous reason as to why they lost to Japan

When the seagulls enter the... South African training base.

Japan shocked the world by beating South Africa in the Rugby World Cup at the weekend, but don't worry, the Springboks have a very valid excuse ready. According to The Daily Mail, the team's preparations for their World Cup opener last week were apparently disrupted by seagulls dive bombing onto their training pitch and covering it in seagull *stuff*.

Seagulls blamed for South Africa's loss to Japan in the Rugby World Cup. pic.twitter.com/lyKScyNuQH

— mason (@mason849) September 21, 2015

South Africa had been training at Eastbourne College in Sussex - grounds previously used by New Zealand and Australia - and a Harris Hawk had to be brought in to scare away the seagulls. The move clearly failed to work and the Springbok bosses are reportedly furious. We're still awaiting confirmation that these were Japanese seagulls.