South African winger Makazole Mapimpi is out of the Rugby World Cup after fracturing his eye socket in the Pool B clash against Tonga on Sunday night.

Despite not being a first-choice wing anymore, Mapimpi is an experienced campaigner with a fantastic winning mentality and a key member of the broader squad.

Commenting on the injury South Africa’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus said: “Makazole is out of the World Cup.

“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.

“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.”

An announcement on Mapimpi’s replacement is expected in the next couple of days, although there is no major rush given that the Springboks have completed their pool play and have a bye this weekend.

Their fate will be decided by the result of the clash between Northern Hemisphere rivals Scotland and Ireland. A win for the latter means they will top the group with the Springboks second. But a win for Scotland could mean that South Africa finish top and Ireland drop out.

There is also a scenario where Scotland beat top-ranked Ireland by 21 points or more, but the Irish manage a bonus point for tries scored – in that case South Africa would end third and their World Cup dream would be over.

Reflecting on the situation Erasmus said: “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.

“Of the three teams, we are probably the most comfortable.”