VIDEO: Boks to take lessons from previous Italy clashes
TURIN, ITALY: The Springboks took valuable lessons from their earlier clash with Italy in South Africa and won’t be underestimating the Azzurri when they meet again in Turin on Saturday.
In the first test at Loftus Versfeld, the world champions were sloppy and often beaten at the breakdown and line-out as Italy put up a brave fight in both encounters.
The entire Bok back row failed to gain the upper hand at the breakdown as South Africa lost 10 turnovers in the first half alone.
The Springboks led 28-3 at halftime, dominating every facet. But not even the ‘bomb squad’ could press home the advantage into a scoreline their fans are used to against the Azzurri.
The depleted Italians stunned with a comeback that unleashed three converted tries, with two more tries ruled out. They got within 11 points of South Africa until Marco van Staden crashed over with seven minutes to go.
Heading into their third encounter against the Italians this year, the Springboks know this will be a different ballgame. They will face Italy’s strongest team, unlike earlier in the year when they sent a weakened side to South Africa, and it is in front of their home crowd.
And the Azzurri will be fired up after their come-from-behind victory over Australia last weekend.
Speaking from the team’s base in Parma on Tuesday, Van Staden reflected on the Pretoria Test and the lessons it taught them.
“As we saw in South Africa, they have hard-working loose forwards, they get over the park and into a lot of work, especially the breakdowns, so they will come hard for us.
“Their line-outs are good and they are a good scrumming team.
“They put Australia under a lot of pressure at the breakdown, and we saw that when they played us at home.
“That’s a massive focus for them. And I think they got a lot of reward out of that over the weekend,” the flanker stated.
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Springbok assistant coach Tony Brown agreed and added that there were a lot of bruised and battered bodies in the squad after the intensely physical victory over France last Saturday.
“Arriving in Italy, the players are pretty sore and beaten up.
“Recovery is going to be massive for us. It’s great to be in Italy. The weather is a little bit better, so hopefully we can have a good week of training,” the coach commented.
He added that there was no doubt that the key battles would be the scrums, mauls, and especially the breakdowns.
“We will have to be good at all the physical aspects of the game.
“Italy will be confident as a team [coming off the win over Australia], and playing at home is always great for any player. And they are very passionate and proud, so it’s important that we meet that challenge with our preparation and physicality.
“They do play differently to France, they pose different challenges with ball in hand.
“They are very much coached like an Argentinian team. Argentina likes to throw the ball around, so Italy is very similar,” he said, and added, “Their game has improved a lot over the last couple of years, and they are a dangerous side, so we need to understand their threats.
“They are just so dangerous when they get space and opportunity, so we are definitely not taking Italy lightly.
“We will pick the best team that will be able to face them.
“If our preparation is off against Italy, they will be very dangerous on Saturday.”
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