Erasmus confirms Pollard likely to feature against Tonga

Springboks Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus confirmed that Handre Pollard will very likely start his 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign against Tonga next weekend.

The Boks' accuracy off the tee was again a topic for debate following their narrow 13-8 loss to Ireland on Saturday. Now, first-choice goal-kicker Pollard is now set to get his first run at the global showpiece in France.

However, Erasmus said it would be unfair to expect miracles from the World Cup winner, who was called into the squad on Monday following injury to hooker Malcolm Marx.

The 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning flyhalf only returned to the playing field as a replacement for his English club Leicester on Friday, after four and a half months on the sidelines with a calf injury.

Selected matches will also be available on SABC Sport.com's live streaming channel

"Everyone must keep it in perspective," said Erasmus.

"Handre Pollard is not superman and can't come back as fully ready after playing only 30 minutes of rugby since his injury.

"He can't just come onto the field to kick goals, he must also be able to sidestep, hand-off, make tackles, clean out at the ruck and that's obviously not the case now because he has only had a full week's training with us.

"That's why he wasn't up for selection for the squad in the first place, but he is definitely up for selection this week.

"Let's give Handre a chance to find his rhythm and see how he does with the other stuff. Tonga will be a great yardstick to see how he goes."

Follow all the Rugby World Cup fixtures in our live score centre

Meanwhile, Erasmus said he was happy with the play of Manie Libbok, the Boks' first choice flyhalf and goalkicker in 2023.

"Manie is definitely playing brilliant flyhalf rugby at this stage but obviously his goalkicking isn't matching that," said Erasmus.

"If you weigh up the different things he does, he makes a great contribution to the team, but he is in a bit of a dip with his goalkicking - he knows it, we know it and the world knows it."

Erasmus celebrated the nature of the match against Ireland, in particular congratulating his players for ensuring their tackle technique was of the highest standard to avoid the issuing of red or yellow cards.

"For the third match now, we have not had any disciplinary issues and it was such a nice thing to have a game where there was nothing referred to the bunker," he said.

"That's what we want from Tier One nations playing against each other - no penalties for foul play and played in a great spirit by both teams, well handled by the match officials and the people in the bunker."

The Springboks will return to field training on Tuesday after a day of recovery from a bruising encounter.

READ MORE: The Springboks can still retain the Rugby World Cup, says Nienaber