Springbok fly-half Handre Pollard could be in line to face Tonga in South Africa’s final Rugby World Cup pool game at the Orange Velodrome on Sunday.

The 29-year-old was a key member of the team that won the World Cup in 2019. At first, he couldn’t play because he had hurt his calf in the summer.

He had just started playing again with his new team, Leicester, a week before he was called up as a replacement for Malcolm Marx, who was hurt and couldn’t hook.

He didn’t play in South Africa’s 13-8 loss to Ireland on Saturday, but their two goal kickers, Manie Libbok and Faf de Klerk, haven’t done well, so more people want Pollard to come back.

“Let’s give Handre a chance to find his rhythm and see how he does with the other stuff,” Erasmus said in a statement.

“Tonga will be a great yardstick to see how he goes.”

Erasmus, on the other hand, said that people shouldn’t expect too much from Pollard as he gets ready to match readiness.

“Everyone must keep it in perspective,” said Erasmus.

“Handre Pollard is not Superman and can’t come back as fully ready after playing only 30 minutes of rugby since his injury.

“He can’t just come onto the field to kick goals. He must also be able to sidestep, hand-off, make tackles, clean out at the ruck and that’s obviously not the case now because he has only had a full week’s training with us.”

Even though Libbok is exciting when he has the ball in his hands, people are worried about how he kicks the ball into the goal.

In the first game, he missed three penalties against Scotland. On Saturday, he missed a conversion and a penalty against Ireland.

“Manie is definitely playing brilliant fly-half rugby at this stage but obviously his goalkicking isn’t matching that,” said Erasmus.

“If you weigh up the different things he does, he makes a great contribution to the team but he is in a bit of a dip with his goalkicking.

“He knows it, we know it and the world knows it.”

Four years ago, Pollard scored 25 points against Japan in the quarter-final and against Wales in the semi-final. He then scored 22 points in the final as South Africa beat England 32-12.

Photo by EPA/KIM LUDBROOK