South African director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is happy to kick back and watch the final world cup pool fixtures play out, while putting pressure on Ireland to get a result against Scotland.

The Boks are currently at the top of Pool B, after claiming a bonus point victory over Tonga in their final pool fixture in Marseille on Sunday.

Having already played all four of their pool fixtures, the Boks will watch from the sidelines as Scotland and Ireland face off in the decisive match in Paris on Saturday.

Either of the two Six Nations teams could fall out at the pool stages, while South Africa will only get knocked out if there is a freak result from the match.

“Basically, as I understand it, if Scotland beat Ireland by more than eight points, and Ireland don’t get a bonus point, then Ireland is out,” Erasmus said. “We would be first, Scotland second and Ireland out. If Scotland beat Ireland 8-0, Ireland are out.

“That’s how I see it. I was thinking about that a lot last night.

“If I was Ireland, I’d definitely make sure they beat them. If Ireland finish first on net-o points, then we go through as we beat Scotland.”

While there has been plenty of talk among Bok fans about permutations, Erasmus is calm and happy to enjoy a two-week break before a potential quarter-final.

“There is no arrogance saying this, but I’d rather sit here than be Ireland,” he said. “Knowing that [Ireland has] 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.

“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 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.”