Springbok coach Jaques Nienaber said on Thursday that facing Ireland, the No 1 team in the world, will be an epic battle that will have a pivotal influence on determining the Pool B quarter-finalists, as well as having the No 1 world ranking up for grabs.
"This is an important game and we all know when we came into this pool, everyone knew this would be a tough pool to get out of. From the first game against Scotland there was massive pressure and then Romania and now Ireland and then there is still Tonga" said Nienaber.
"A win for us or for them will put you in a good position to get out of the pool and that is why there is pressure. But that was there when the World Cup started. So it doesn't actually change for us personally because the pressure was set, we said we are playing knock-out rugby from game one. Nothing has changed from game one."
Speaking about discipline in the match, Nienaber said: "When two top teams play each other discipline is important, not just keeping 15 players on the field but discipline in general. Penalty counts - if you give a team like Ireland ill discipline they can either convert that into points or get territory and put you under pressure in your own 22 so discipline in general will be important."
