Nienaber on suggestion of Ireland-Scotland ploy to eliminate Boks: 'That would be match-fixing'

• Bok 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 said such a scenario would be "match-fixing".
• The Boks will exit the tournament if Scotland beat Ireland by 21 points and both teams also bag try-scoring bonus points.
• For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has labelled suggestions that Ireland and Scotland could collude to send South Africa out of the Rugby World Cup as "match-fixing". 

After South Africa's 49-18 win over Tonga on Sunday night, Nienaber was asked by a French reporter whether he was worried that Ireland and Scotland could make an arrangement to knock the Boks out of the tournament.

There is a slim mathematical chance that South Africa could exit in the pool stages. For that to happen, Scotland must beat Ireland by a margin of 21 points or more, with both teams scoring four tries to earn an attacking bonus point.

Such a scenario would mean all three teams would finish pool play on 15 points. The Scots would then top the group on points difference, but Ireland would finish second ahead of South Africa because they won their pool game against the Boks.

Visit News24's Rugby World Cup 2023 zone for fixtures, pools, profiles, top stories

Nienaber wasn't impressed by the reporter's suggestion but opted to answer.

"That would be match-fixing. It would be extremely disappointing," he said. "Could I believe in a scenario that they would decide on a scenario that they would decide, 'Okay, they would get that amount of points and therefore get South Africa out of the World Cup?'

"That would probably be match-fixing, I would say. I hope not. Rugby's clean, we wear those T-shirts, so I hope not. That would be extremely disappointing, don't you think?"

The Ireland-Scotland match will be played at the Stade de France on Saturday, 7 October (21:00).