By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber hit back at a reporter’s suggestion that Ireland and Scotland could collude to knock South Africa out of the Rugby World Cup.
Nienaber faced questions from the media after his side saw off a spirited Tonga side with a 49-18 win in Marseille on Sunday night.
The bonus point victory, which saw them run in seven tries, puts the defending champions top of Pool B.
However, the final standings in the pool are set to be decided by the monumental clash between Ireland and Scotland next weekend, with both sides, along with the Boks, in with a chance of either making it through to the last eight or crashing out of the tournament in the pool stages.
Despite currently topping the pile, there is a chance that Nienaber’s side could be the ones who miss out. If Scotland secure a bonus point win against Ireland, winning by a margin of 21 points or more, and Andy Farrell’s side score at least four tries to earn themselves a losing bonus point.
Asked by a French-speaking journalist about a possible conspiracy against the Boks, Nienaber decided to address the suggestion rather than dismiss it out of hand.
“I think between ourselves, Ireland and Scotland, everybody can still miss out on the quarter-finals, every single team, all three of those teams, but all three can also still make it so the Pool will only be decided on Saturday,” the coach said.
“Could I believe in a scenario that they will decide ‘do we want to get this amount of points and then get South Africa out of the way?’ That would probably be match-fixing, I would say. I hope not. Rugby is clean. We wear those t-shirts so hopefully not because that would be extremely disappointing.”
The Ireland-Scotland match will be played at the Stade de France on Saturday, 7 October (21:00).