Mzwandile Stick: This could be Springboks' last game

South Africa assistant coach Mzwandile Stick knows his side cannot take Tonga lightly following last week’s 13-8 defeat to Ireland.

The Springboks sit second in Pool B on 10 points, five in front of Scotland who have a game in hand.

Stick insists the 2019 champions are ready for Sunday’s crunch game as they look to qualify for the knockout stages.

“This could be our last eve of match media conference if we don’t win, so we’ve been working hard at training and the eight-day turnaround (from the match against Ireland) gave us time to delve deeply into Tonga,” he told South Africa Rugby’s official website.

“We may not have gotten the result against Ireland, but the manner in which we played allowed the game to live up to its billing as one of the toughest in the pool stages. So, we are up and ready for this match.”

Tonga are yet to pick up a point in the World Cup after losing 59-16 to Ireland and 45-17 against Scotland.

Stick added: “They have big forwards and one of the best scrums in the competition. They also have star backs with a lot of X-factor players in their team.

“The team we selected is also strong and physical so that we can put them under pressure.

“We know that if we are not on form we could struggle, so we want to pitch up with real intensity and capitalise on our point-scoring chances, which is something we didn’t do against Ireland.”