Vintage Rassie.

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is back playing mind games again ahead of Ireland’s final pool game with Scotland next weekend.

Ireland defeated the Boks in their Pool B encounter, putting them in pole position top top the group, but Erasmus still reckons he’d rather be in South Africa’s position over Ireland’s.

He believes Ireland vs Scotland is going to be a “nervy” encounter for Andy Farrell’s side, who could go out of the tournament if the result doesn’t go their way.

Erasmus also believes France’s game with Italy could also be a tricky affair for the host side.

“With full humbleness, and there is no arrogance saying this, but I’d rather sit here than be Ireland, knowing that we’ve been number one in the world all the time and Scotland basically just have to beat them by eight points, and they are out of the tournament,” Erasmus said.

“The score could be 22-12 or 22-13, and Ireland are out of the competition if they don’t get a bonus point. Of the three teams, we are probably the most comfortable sitting here, knowing we have got a two-week rest. Look, maybe we have got six months’ rest if the cards don’t fall our way.

“We have got two weeks off where we can analyse all three teams that we can possibly play.

“I always thought the Ireland-Scotland game was going to be nervy, just like the France-Italy game will be nervy.

“I know everybody writes off Italy and though Italy are not used to playing against southern hemisphere teams they are used to playing against northern hemisphere teams.

“There are going to be some interesting permutations still in the rest of this World Cup.”

We were at the Springboks vs Tonga game at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Sunday night, with Handre Pollard making a successful return to action, setting the Boks up nicely should results go their way, and they make the quarter-final stages.

We’re still in Marseille for another couple of days checking out all the sights so be sure to follow our updates over on our Instagram page.

Be sure to follow the accounts below too and visit marseille-tourisme.com for more information on Marseille.

– @explorefrance
– @choosemarseille
– @marseilleexperience

READ MORE ON MARSEILLE:

• Marseille: our tips for thrilling during the Rugby World Cup (france.fr)
• Official website of the Tourist Office of Marseille (marseille-tourisme.com)
• Welcome to Provence, Alpes and Côte d’Azur (provence-alpes-cotedazur.com)