'Am in contention if Boks make quarter-finals' - Boks Assistant coach Jones

Felix Jones, assistant coach

On whether there were any other injury concerns in the squad besides Makazole Mapimpi:

"There were certainly a lot of knocks. The game on the weekend was incredibly physical. I haven’t seen a game where there was that many guys after the match that had shiners or cuts or bruises. There’s quite a lot of that but nothing of a major concern."

On whether Lukhanyo Am will be involved if South Africa make the quarter-finals:

"Lukhanyo’s going to arrive today, shortly. He’ll probably do some light field work.

"Anyone in the squad is going to put their hand up for contention. We’ll see how he rocks up and how he performs in training over the next two weeks.

"Lukhanyo will come in and definitely contend for a centre position. He’ll be considered just as much as anyone else and we’ll base a lot of it on what happens in training and also consider what’s gone on in the game’s prior to this."

On Lukhanyo Am not having any recent game-time:

"Luckily for us Lukhanyo is quite an experienced player and has been a part of the group for many years now. I think probably everyone will agree that when Lukhanyo is at his best he can slot into almost any team.

"It’s not that long since Lukhanyo was actually with us. I think the last game was Argentina away in Buenos Aires. That’s not that long ago, it’s only five or six test matches ago.

"Lukhanyo was actually involved in all of our alignment camps, all of our training sessions, up to the point of us pretty much leaving for the World Cup, or the week or two before. He’ll be fully up to speed with how things are going here."

On whether he feels South Africa’s attack is as good as South Africa’s defence:

"It depends on the game and it depends on the moment, but probably our defence has been in the top two to three you would rank in the world for a number of years now.

"Hopefully defence complements attack and hopefully the way you attack can complement your defence.

"We try not to focus on segmenting one area and thinking of it like that. It’s far more looking at the whole thing holistically and seeing how we can complement the team to be more effective.”

On who he will be cheering for in the game between Ireland and Scotland:

"We just want to get through ourselves. I think there’s 20-odd possible scenarios and one of them can result in us being knocked out. We’re just hoping we get one of the ones where we actually go through to the knockout stages.

"If you look at it on paper and you look at form and you look at Ireland being the number one team over the last - however many test matches now they are in a row - you would probably say that it looks like Ireland that would be the favourites.

"But I’ve seen it so many times growing up in the northern hemisphere and playing all my rugby in the northern hemisphere that as soon as you write Scotland off, or a Scottish team like Glasgow or Edinburgh, that’s when they’re almost at their most dangerous.

"Scotland are in fantastic form. They’ve proven now in their last two games that they have an ability to score points as well as any attacking team. I think it’s going to be a really tight game."

On being happy with the performance of Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok against Tonga:

"We have full confidence in the lads. Whoever is selected, or if both players end up being selected - on the field at the same time, one player coming off the bench, whatever the case may be - we have full confidence in them."

On having Pollard back in the squad:

"It’s been great having Handre in. He’s given us another voice in the changing room, on the field, in the meeting room.

"It’s been a real pleasure having him back in, he’s just picked up exactly where he left off. It’s been great."

Grant Williams, scrum-half

On having Lukhanyo Am back in the team:

"Everyone enjoys Lukhanyo. If you don’t enjoy Lukhanyo then there’s something wrong with you.

"He’s an incredible leader at the Sharks and in the Springbok environment. We’re getting a quality player back."

On playing scrum-half and winger for South Africa:

"Whatever my role is during the week, whether it’s wing or scrum-half - or if I have to scrum - I need to nail my role."

On which position he prefers:

"At the moment, winger. I’m seeing more space. There’s no forwards (laughs)."