Italy v South Africa - Teams and Prediction

PREVIEW: South Africa resume their Nations Championship campaign at the summit of the Southern Hemisphere table as they gear up to face Italy at Allianz Stadium in Turin.

The Boks are currently tied with New Zealand on 15 tournament points but lead the way by virtue of a positive points differential of 81, and have a +30 points difference over New Zealand, who are on +51.

Bonus points will be crucial in the Boks’ quest to reach the Final, but for them, it’s not the main priority according to fullback Damian Willemse.

“It is a key factor going into this weekend’s game, but I don’t think it’s something we are chasing at the moment,” Willemse said.

“I know we are level on [log] points with New Zealand; if we are in the position to go for a bonus point, we’ll obviously aim to do that.

“But the main thing for us is to play well and win the match, which is our first priority.”

“In these sort of tournaments, where we are playing for a trophy in a few weeks is like a knock-out stage.

“This week is the most important. If we lose this Saturday, we’re most likely out of the race to try and get to the [Nations Championship] Final.

“However, that’s not our focus at the moment. We want to make sure we follow through with our plans and the stuff the coaches have set out for us.

“And also on this weekend’s result when we play against Italy; it won’t be an easy game. They are a strong side who are very well coached and will come with good plans.

“We’ve got to stay dialled in and make sure we don’t lose track of or any focus on what’s ahead.

“We saw how dangerous they are at home the last time we faced them here, and despite their injuries, there are still several players in their setup that are key figures for them.”

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“It’s crazy to think he’s only 20 years old.”

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Willemse also explained what the Boks’ mentality is heading into this clash and what they hope to get out of it.

“Apart from getting the details right and familiarising ourselves to do things the Springbok way, there’s also the [different] conditions,” Willemse told Rugby365.

“When we played in July [in South Africa], the weather was still quite nice, and we played on the Highveld, so coming to Europe, especially this time of the year when it’s autumn, we will experience more of a greasy and wet ball with conditions constantly changing.

“That’s another factor that’s a challenge, and then of course there’s the opposition.

“It’s an away match for us and a home game for them, which gives them a different advantage.

“But it’s all about our game and the way we play, and we just have to continue building on what we’ve done during the first leg of the Nations Championship and during the Greatest Rivalry series and keep looking to build our game.”

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South Africa played against Italy three times with Gonzalo Quesada as Azzurri head coach.

Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus shared his relationship with Quesada and how he views his opposite’s approach to the game.

“Gonzalo and I are good buddies; we’re really good friends,” the Bok mentor said.

“When he’s going through a tough time, I’ll give him a call and vice versa; he’s one of the guys I’m not enemies with,” Erasmus said lightheartedly.

“I understand the heat he gets sometimes, and we share a lot of ideas.

“I really respect the way he coaches and his philosophy on the game.

“I totally understand when you don’t have that many clubs [to select players from] and your player pool isn’t that great [it can be difficult].

“But when his player pool is in a healthy position, and everyone is ready, they are very competitive.

“When I saw him recently, I could see there’s a lot of confidence on their side. He’s a talented coach with talented players, and we’ve always found them a difficult team to coach against.

“We only got together as a group on Monday, and I think it was the same for Italy. He [Quesada] will be smart, and his team will be good.

“It’s never been a runaway game for us in the last couple of years, and I think it’s going to be a tough one.”

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It’s never the finished product 😤🇿🇦

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Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada selected a strong lineup despite injuries to several first-choice players.

With that being said, he opted to have his most experienced players, such as usual starting prop Danilo Fischetti, Manuel Zuliani, who is a breakdown specialist and experienced flyhalf Tommaso Allen, all on the bench

Quesada explained his reasoning for his selections.

“I understand that seeing some players we’re used to seeing as regular starters on the bench might be surprising,” Quesada said in the team announcement press conference.

“But let’s take Fischetti as an example: he’s playing six consecutive games, and we thought it was best not to let him start another four in a row.

“As for scrumhalf, we chose Fusco because he arrived in top form, while Varney had to travel back and forth from England, like many others. Others, like Zuliani, have played very little and are still not 100 percent fit and haven’t played 80 minutes.”

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#SPOTLIGHT: “The Boks are experts at capitalising on even the slightest mistake.”
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Quesada elaborated: “Belloni trained really well, he worked hard, and what the players do in training is hugely important in choosing the lineup.

“Allan is coming off a three-week injury, started running at the start of last week, and has only been training with the team since last Friday.

“He wasn’t fit to play 80 minutes, and against South Africa we couldn’t help but use a six-two bench split, and we can’t help starting midfielders who we know from the start can’t play 80 minutes

“We also decided to move Capuozzo to the wing because, between commitments abroad and personal reasons, he hasn’t trained much with us.

“So we wanted to use him because he’s doing very well, but in a different role than fullback, which has specific functions in our game.”

Players to watch:

For Italy: Ange Cupuozzo remains a deadly game-breaker and finisher despite being shifted from fullback to wing, and he could cause havoc alongside his back three partner Monty Ioane, who is a deadly finisher in his own right. The halfback combination of Paolo Garbisi and Alessandro Fusco will have the ultimate responsibility to unlock the Boks’ defence. Up front, Lorenzo Cannone will have to lead the charge in the back row, while Muhamed Hasa, captain Giacomo Nicotera and Simone Ferrari will face a stern test against a solid Bok pack.

For South Africa: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Morne van den Berg enjoyed a fruitful partnership during the Greatest Rivalry series and will want to build on that combination. There will be eyes on the lock partnership of Ruan Nortje and Salmaan Moerat, who is fairly untested, and especially on Moerat, who has been in the international wilderness in recent times after struggling with injury.

*See the teams and prediction below!

Prediction:

Rugby365: South Africa by 22 points

Teams:

Italy: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (captain), 1 Muhamed Hasa.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Tommaso Allan.

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok

Date: November 7, 2026
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Turin
Kick-off: 12.40 CET (13.40 SAST; 11.40 GMT)
Expected weather: Cloudy with a high of 14 degrees Celsius and a low of nine degrees Celsius, with winds of 6 kilometres per hour.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: James Doleman (New Zealand), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)