Rassie Erasmus confirmed that Makazole Mapimpi has been ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup through injury but did not say who the Springboks would call in as a replacement.

Mapimpi was injured in a clash of heads with scrum-half Augustine Pulu during the Boks’ 49-18 victory over Tonga last night.

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The winger did not play any further part in the match after failing his Head Impact Assessment and was replaced by try-scorer Jesse Kriel.

“Makazole is out of the world cup,” Erasmus said during an online briefing earlier. “It is very sad, it was an accident, but he has a fractured eye socket and is out for four to six weeks. We will miss him because he is a brilliant rugby player and a fantastic person.”

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Erasmus confirmed a decision has already been made on a replacement, but could not reveal who the Springboks would be flying to France.

“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,” Erasmus said.

Mapimpi’s injury could open up the opportunity to fly outside centre Lukhanyo Am into the Bok camp. Am missed out on being named in the original 33-player squad due to a troublesome knee injury, but has recovered sufficiently to start making his way back to playing.

The Springboks already count Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe and Canan Moodie as the other wings in the squad, while speedy scrum-half Grant Williams has made both of his starts at the world cup on the right wing.

Readers rate the ref

Here is what some Caxton Local Media readers across the country had to say about referee Pearce:

Middelburg Observer

Allysha White felt he was a ‘very fair and even referee’, but had an issue with the Mapimpi incident: “The penalty for the head-on collision with Mapimpi should have been a yellow card as he fractured his cheekbone.”

Martin Pretorius felt the incident warranted a red card, while Shannon Moll raised concern about how head contact incidents have been handled througout the showpiece event.

Lowvelder

Andre van Rhyn commented: “There were a few bad decisions on both sides, but a good performance.” Sonnyboy Mndawe agreed and said: “Not bad…”

Krugersdorp News

Lynette Wheeler Gunn said Pearce ‘was good… let the game flow’, while Mary Ann Stephens felt he was ‘excellent’.

Zululand Observer

Barry Lane said he thought ‘the ref had an excellent game – consistent and fair. Best I’ve seen at the RWC so far’, with Chuma PA Mngadi and Clara Bezuidenhout agreeing with him.