South Africa v Italy: Teams and Prediction

PREVIEW: South Africa’s first Test of the season between the Springboks and Italy at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday can rightly be described as a battle between David and Goliath.

Italy will come with pride and passion, while South Africa is the frontrunner in world rugby, the one the rest of the pack is chasing.

To be fair, the Azzurri always pitch up and punch above their weight, while many will regard the clash as a task too far for coach Gonzalo Quesada and his youthful team.

But despite the tag as the ‘best in the world’, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is taking no chances.

Throughout the week, Erasmus, assistant coaches, captain Jesse Kriel, and players were all adamant that they were not about to underestimate the visiting Italians.

Erasmus was very forthright in his summation of the upcoming battle, while he was also clear that the final score would only be one box ticked.

The Springbok coach is always looking for innovation and evolution, as his idea of a hybrid player in the form of Andre Esterhuizen playing flank, illustrated last weekend.

“If you don’t change, you get left behind. We started evolving when attack coach Tony Brown came in last year. You could see the intent last week, and if it wasn’t so wet, more of the offloads would have stuck,” said Erasmus earlier this week.

“This group of senior guys who are playing this weekend want to continue with that. This team will definitely not slot back to 2019 when it was a kick-and-chase, pressure game for us. This team on Saturday must try and get it right.”

The Boks have beaten Italy in South Africa by some big margins previously, and they put 63 points past the Italians the last time the two teams met, in Genoa in 2022.

The game before that was the 49-3 win in Shizuoka in a Pool game at the 2019 World Cup.

Just like South Africa, Italy has a new skipper in lock Niccolò Cannone, who takes over from Giacomo Nicotera, who captained the side against Namibia last weekend.

Kriel will captain the Springboks for the first time in an official Test after the trial run last weekend against the Barbarians.

He also comes up in one of the more mouthwatering battles of the day, against one of Italy’s standouts, Tommaso Menoncello

Attending his first press conference of an official Test on Friday afternoon after the captains’ rugby at Ellis Park, the skipper echoed similar sentiments to his coach about their opponents.

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“It’s a massive mistake by the rugby world to write Italy off. They are an extremely passionate rugby nation and a very good rugby side,” Kriel stated.

“We certainly haven’t done that and we respect them very much and we have shown that in our preparation throughout this week. It’s been an intense week and we are expecting a very passionate Italian side that comes out onto Loftus tomorrow.

“We are looking forward to the challenge and are excited about it.”

“I’m very excited and I’m in the fortunate position that I’ve got such strong leaders around me.

“Siya’s been incredible, Eben (Etzebeth), Handre (Pollard). There is so much experience, and the guys are willing to help, give advice, and just be there when you need someone to ask a question.

“I’m extremely lucky in that sense, and very proud to lead a team that I can honestly call some of the guys my best friends. It’s a really special occasion and something that I’m really proud of.”

With a strong starting front row consisting of Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, and Wilco Louw, backed by another strong one on the bench, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Bongi Mbonambi, and Vincent Koch, the battle of the set-piece should be eye-watering.

Since Quesada took over as the Italian coach, they have vastly improved in all facets of their game and have troubled some of the best teams in the world.

But Mbonambi believes Italy’s forward performance in the Six Nations showed that they will be a challenge.

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“The Italian pack proved what they can do in the Six Nations. We saw how hard they scrummed against top packs. They have a system that they believe in. They’ve proven themselves to be a threat, and they have a plan to use their pack,” the hooker said earlier in the week.

“They also have a coach in Gonzalo Quesada who drives that passion. They may have a smaller group of players to choose from compared to South Africa, with so few clubs, but they are hard-working players, and we are expecting a tough day at the office.

“We are expecting a massive battle from them, and we know they are going to come hard at us up front for 80 minutes, so we cannot afford to get comfortable at any stage of the match because they have the potential to cause damage.”

“Some may be underestimating them, but as a team, we have a lot to lose if we let ourselves down on the field,” said Mbonambi.

“The public will have a different look and feel towards the game, but the planning for us this past week has been based on the perception that Italy is going to come down here with a massive challenge.

“Some may be underestimating them, but as a team, we have a lot to lose if we let ourselves down on the field,” said Mbonambi.

The Italians are without some stars, like exciting fullback Ange Capuozzo and flanker Sebastian Negri, but they come into the match with nothing to lose.

Just like the Springboks, the Azzurri have selected a 6-2 bench.

“It is difficult to consider the possibility of bringing a 5-3 bench split against South Africa,” Quesada said.

“We are forced to play with a 6-2 to face them; we cannot afford to have one less forward.

“We counted the caps, there are 388 Italians against their 1,204. For this group, it is an incredible opportunity, playing at the home of the best in the world and against a top-level team, and the fact that they field such a strong team shows the respect that South Africa has for us.

“We could find many adjectives for South Africa, but the reality is that there is no greater challenge than this, it is the most difficult match that the boys have ever faced; it is the toughest challenge that exists.”

Players to watch:

For South Africa: Vincent Tshituka will be in the spotlight in his first official Test outing, while his role on defence will be key. After all, he is expected to deliver a Pieter-Steph du Toit-like performance, which is a tall order. It will be his job to stop the Italians on the gain line.  Another tester will be the combination of the old hand, Handrè Pollard, and his partnership with the new kid on the block, Morne van den Berg. Pollard has been described as a more conservative flyhalf, and playing at Loftus, his old stomping ground, it would be interesting to see which role he will take on. Under the coaching of Tony Brown, a lot is expected of the Boks from an attacking perspective. Damian Willemse is back in the No. 15 for the first time since the World Cup Final in 2023 and while he has been a stalwart of the Stormers, taking the game to the next level is key. This will be his first test to showcase that he is still up there with the best.

For Italy: The Italians are without a lot of their stars, but two players that need no introduction are the wingers Simone Gesi and Louis Lynagh. They are absolute speedsters and will need to be kept in check on the fringes. As previously stated above, the duel between Kriel and Menoncello will be one to keep an eye on.

Prediction: 

@Rugby365: South Africa by 40 points

Teams:
Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Reserves: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux.

Italy: 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo De Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manual Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Andrea Zambonini, 4 Niccolo Cannone (captain), 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Tommasso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Reserves: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali. 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alessandro Garbisis, 23 Giulo Bertaccinini.

Date: Saturday, July 5
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.10 (15.10; 17.10 Italy time)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Andrew Brace (England)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)