South Africa's Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus confirmed on Monday that Springbok winger Makazole Mapimpi had suffered a tournament-ending injury at the World Cup.
Springbok fans would have been delighted to see veteran forward Deon Fourie produce a man-of-the-match performance at hooker against Tonga on Sunday.
It was a great night for the Springboks in Marseille as they did what they needed to do against Tonga and all but got the job done in Pool B, but not everything went according to plan.
The Springboks are not yet absolutely certain of a place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, but only a highly unlikely scenario would prevent them from advancing.
Jacques Nienaber hailed his Springbok team for doing all they could to remain in the running to defend their Rugby World Cup title against Tonga on Sunday.
The Springboks closed out their Rugby World Cup Pool stage with a combative 49-18 win over Tonga in Marseille on Sunday night.