Player ratings: No depth
Italy made life unpleasant for South Africa, but ultimately came up well short – losing 6-22 in Padua on Saturday.
They found French referee Jérôme Garcès in a forgiving mood and made the most of the freedom he afforded them.
However, it is their lack of depth that cost them dearly.
While they have some obvious world-class players – the names Andrea Masi and Sergio Parisse come to mind – foremost part they are a team of spoilers and has-beens.
Jan de Koning rates the Italian players!
15 Andrea Masi:
Had his moments with ball in hand, including a great second-half break, but also a few silly errors – including a crucial penalty late in the first half. Still one of their better players.
7/10
14 Leonardo Sarto:
Ball did not go his way much, but looked solid on defence. Needs to work harder off the ball.
5/10
13 Michele Campagnaro:
Struggled to crack the Boks' solid midfield defence, but made most of his own tackles as well.
6/10
12 Luca Morisi:
Did what was expected of him – solid on defence – but nothing special.
5/10
11 Luke McLean:
Looked like a player playing out of position and also slipped a couple of tackles.
5/10
10 Kelly Haimona:
Looked to pull the strings for the Azzurri and has some obvious talent, but also made some errors. At least the Azzurri found a real flyhalf.
6/10
9 Eduardo Gori:
Acted mostly as a link and seldom tested the Boks around the fringes. But his work on the cover defence must be applauded.
6/10
8 Sergio Parisse (captain):
Showed his full array of skills, but occasionally allowed his 'passion' to boil over. Still Italy's best player by some distance.
8/10
7 Samuela Vunisa:
Powerful unit that won a couple of important penalty turnovers and was a rock on defence.
7/10
6 Alessandro Zanni:
Invaluable on defence and also contributed in the line-outs.
7/10
5 Joshua Furno:
His team's main source of line-out possession and worked hard on defence.
6/10
4 Quintin Geldenhuys:
Some good work against his compatriots – enjoyed the physical exchanges.
6/10
3 Martin Castrogiovanni:
Made an enormous number of tackles, but did not dominate in the scrums as expected and made little impact with ball in hand. Father time appears to be catching up with him.
5/10
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini:
Great work on defence and had some strong carries, but his line-out throwing needs work. Lucky to get away with some sneaky tactics at the breakdown.
5/10
1 Matias Aguero:
Made life decidedly unpleasant for Coenie Oosthuizen in the early scrums. Left the field after just more than half-hour and did very little outside the set pieces.
5/10
Replacements:
16 Andrea Manici (on for Ghiraldini, 63rd min):
A forgettable performance.
4/10
17 Alberto De Marchi (on for Aguero, 34th min):
Worked very hard on defence and had a couple of ineffective carries.
5/10
18 Dario Chistolini (on for Castrogiovanni, 63rd min):
If this is the future of Italian rugby they are in trouble.
4/10
19 Marco Bortolami (on for Furno, 70th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
20 Francesco Minto (on for Zanni, 41st min):
Like most of his teammates made a lot of tackles, but very little else.
5/10
21 Guglielmo Palazzani (on for Gori, 64th min):
Was he really on the field? Statistically he handled the ball 19 times… really?
4/10
22 Luciano Orquera (on for Haimona, 75th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
23 Giulio Toniolatti (on for Sarto, 78th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
