"We are not rushing Pollard." - Rassie Erasmus

Pollard was not included in the original selection for the defending world champions and was injury cover. But with South Africa missing crucial goal-kicking points in Sunday's loss, attention has turned on him.

South Africa's director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, has attempted to put a lid on speculation and reminded the media that Pollard was not Superman.

"Four weeks ago, he was not ready to play rugby. He has only played 40 minutes of rugby [since his injury]. He can't just come on the field and do goal-kicking; he must tackle, pass, kick-offs, sidestep, hand-offs, and clean out at the rucks.

"People think we didn't pick Handre Pollard because we didn't want to. That's not the case. Handre was injured. He has only had 40 minutes of rugby and a week of training with us last week. This week will now be full-on contact where he doesn't sit out a session. That's why I said he wasn't up for selection last week. But we were always going to rotate the squad for the Tonga match so he's definitely up for selection for this match."

"Handre is playing this weekend, but let's see first of all how Handre does the other stuff in the game. Does he get through it on the contact side of things? I am sure he'll also take some time to find his rhythm with his kicking under pressure. The Tonga one will be a great test for him as a yardstick to see where he is before we go - if we go – into those quarter-finals, and who will be on the field. Manie is certainly playing brilliant fly-half rugby at the moment, his goal-kicking is not matching that at this stage."

Erasmus said a negative from their loss to Ireland was the halt it brought to the momentum they were developing.

"Getting one [losing bonus] point out of the game is a bit of a positive, but losing the match is a negative.

"There were 11 points out there which we couldn't kick. I don't know how many teams have kept Ireland to 13 points, but it is the first time we haven't scored double figures against them since way back. So it was a great tussle between the number one and two teams in the world. Now it is about focusing on the next game to see if we can get out of the pool."

Erasmus said the loss had not increased pressure on the side.

"Certain departments functioned very well against the number one team in the world, who had won 15 games in a row. We came within three points of them last year; this time, it was five points.

"At the end, we had an opportunity to snatch the match away, but they deservedly won. You just want to get out of your pool.

"It would be brave to say you want France or New Zealand in the quarter-finals. We will let destiny decide that because they're both formidable opponents.

"There's no added pressure because the pressure was always to get out of this slippery pool. We will see how Scotland gets on against Tonga later. But it doesn't add pressure. It is nice to see how different combinations are working and things are starting to come together, but there were two or three departments [which didn't work]."