Let's try one more time - nothing absolves the pilot from complying with Rule 17. By complying with an ATC clearance which includes an order of landing, the pilot is complying with Rule 17 - he is not absolved from it. And it makes no difference whether the flight is VFR, IFR or Special VFR.
And in fact one does not have to read further than Rule 17(1)(a) to find:
"Notwithstanding that the flight is being made with air traffic control clearance it shall remain the duty of the commander of an aircraft to take all possible measures to ensure that his aircraft does not collide with any other aircraft."
While the
measures may include delegation of separation to ATC in circumstances where such delegation is reasonable, the pilot of an IFR flight is most definitely required to conform to the remainder of Rule 17 in the same way as a VFR flight.