Rassie Erasmus says he wouldn't like to be Ireland as Springboks' Mapimpi ruled out for RWC

Erasmus: 'We would rather sit here than be Ireland, who have been number one in the world all this time and Scotland just have to beat them by eight points and they are out of the tournament'

COMFORTABLE: Rassie Erasmus

South Africa wing Makazole Mapimpi has been ruled out of the remainder of the Rugby World Cup in France with a fractured eye socket, director of rugby Rassie Erasmus confirmed Monday.

Mapimpi was injured in a clash of heads with Augustine Pulu in the Springboks’ 49-18 Pool B victory over Tonga in Marseille on Sunday, which edged them closer to a quarter-final place.

The incident was reviewed by the Television Match Official, but not sanctioned with a yellow card.

"Makazole is out of the World Cup," Erasmus told reporters. "We know who we want to replace him, I would love to tell you who it is but we first need to notify World Rugby.

"It is very sad, it was an accident, but he has a fractured eye socket and he is out for four to six weeks. We will miss him because he is a brilliant rugby player and a fantastic person."

While no longer first choice in the side, Mapimpi has bags of experience having played a central role in South Africa’s 2019 World Cup victory in Japan.

"If we get to the final we will fly him back to join us here. It is sad but that is the game of rugby, these collisions happen," Erasmus added.

South Africa must wait until Saturday’s game between Ireland and Scotland in Paris to learn their quarter-final fate, but are in a strong position.

The only way they can be knocked out of the tournament is if Scotland beat top-ranked Ireland by 21 points or more and the latter get a bonus point for tries scored.

If Scotland win by eight points or more with no Irish bonus point then they and South Africa advance.

"We would rather sit here than be Ireland, who have been number one in the world all this time and Scotland just have to beat them by eight points and they are out of the tournament," he said.

"Of the three teams, we are probably the most comfortable."

Better news for Nienaber was the return of flyhalf Handre Pollard, who played 50 minutes in his first test for 13 months. Pollard had featured for only 30 minutes for his club Leicester Tigers since May after recovering from a calf problem.

"He will get better (with more game-time), he was solid," Nienaber said. "His ball carries were decisive, in defence he level-changed well and put some proper shoulder into his tackles. His off-the-ball work was good, as was his kicking game, both going for poles and in general play."

South Africa's Makazole Mapimpi 

Head coach Jacques Nienaber does not mind some time away from the game and said it was similar to when they lifted the trophy in Japan four years ago.

"We also finished our pool quite early and we had a 12 or 13-day preparation break before the quarter-final against Japan," he said.

"It is something we have done before and it worked well back then. We will give the players two to three days off, a mental break, and then start preparing and see what we can do better if we want to stay in this competition to the end."

The Boks conceded three tries in a World Cup match for the first time since their stunning loss to Japan in 2015, a run of 17 games, but Nienaber was not concerned.

"From a defensive point of view, I am very proud. If you look at the attitude of the defence against a Tonga side that have got better as the tournament has progressed, it was there and the boys put in a big shift. Sometimes you just have to applaud the opposition."