Rassie warns Boks should not underestimate Scotland at Rugby World Cup

SA Rugby's director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, has warned that Scotland should not be underestimated as the Springboks plot to defend their World Cup title in France later this year.

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The Boks will feature in Pool B alongside the Scots, Ireland, Tonga and Romania.

A lot of emphasis has been placed on South Africa's fixture against world No 1 Ireland in Paris on 23 September, but Erasmus has reminded of the threats posed by fifth-ranked Scotland.

The Boks will open their World Cup campaign against Scotland in Marseille on 10 September. They also play Romania in Bordeaux on 17 September and Tonga in Marseille on 1 October.

"All of us, South Africans, are putting our heads too far ahead ... common sense tells you that you must plan well and play really well - in our second (against Romania) and last (against Tonga) pool games - because there are players there that can play.

"But, we face Scotland in the first match. If we beat Scotland, [then] we've got a little more breathing space in the rest of the pool," Erasmus told reporters at SARU House in Cape Town on Thursday.

The Boks lost their opening match to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup in Japan, before going on to win the title.

But Erasmus said he wanted to avoid a similar scenario and added that beating Scotland would take some pressure off heading into the Ireland game.

"Everybody's taking Ireland, Ireland, Ireland, Ireland ... [but] people are underestimating the importance of the Scotland game. Scotland will probably be saying: 'Why are you guys not talking about us?'

"They have seven or eight South African-born players in their team. Scotland and Ireland play each other in the last