The Boks struggled to get the better of an Italian team which tested them in a number of areas on Saturday.
The Springboks scored six tries to three to beat Italy in the first of two Tests between the teams at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
It was the Boks’ first official Test of the 2025 season after opening their year with a match against the Barbarians in Cape Town the previous week.
This is how The Citizen rated the performance of the Bok players in Pretoria, out of 10.
Damian Willemse 7: In his first Test match back since the 2023 World Cup final, he looked solid in the air and dangerous with ball in hand, making a few good runs. He knocked on badly on one occasion.
Cheslin Kolbe 6: He didn’t get many chances to show what he can do, but looked for work and made a few darting runs. Competed well in the air.
Jesse Kriel 6: A decent showing by the outside centre and captain on the day. He tackled well, cleaned rucks and carried strongly, while he showed plenty of calm in scoring the opening try.
Damian de Allende 8: He carried the ball well, and often, and put in a number of good tackles. Made a good kick to set up Kriel for his try, and kicked well at other times as well.
Kurt-Lee Arendse 8: He chased kicks and was excellent in defence, putting in one try-saving tackle. He also scored an outstanding try after a well-timed, angled run.
Handre Pollard 7: He knocked the ball on early on, but settled to produce a decent performance. He ran nicely with the ball at times and tackled well. Solid goal-kicking was his best bit on the day.
Morne van den Berg 8: He knocked the ball on once or twice, but generally kicked well out of hand and made several good tackles. He scored two tries, both of them excellently taken.
Jasper Wiese 8: He put in a mountain of work, carrying the ball over the gain line on a number of occasions, while he also pulled off several important tackles.
Vincent Tshituka 7: He won a number of lineouts, carried strongly and tackled well. He scored what looked like a good try, which was chalked off by the TMO because of earlier obstruction, a pity.
Marco van Staden 7: He scored a try late on to ease the nerves, a reward for a good evening’s work. He made a number of tackles and cleans and carried the ball strongly at times.
Lood de Jager 6: A second good showing in a row by the experienced lock, though not as dominant as the week before. He was solid at the restarts, carried regularly and put in some good tackles.
Eben Etzebeth 8: He charged down a clearance kick early on and generally delivered a knockout performance. He was busy in all areas; he won lineouts, stole ball, chased kicks and carried hard.
Wilco Louw 8: He scrummed excellently, anchoring a Bok set-piece that was way too good for Italy. But he also got stuck in with carries and tackles.
Malcolm Marx 8: His lineout throwing was pin-point accurate, he was busy in the tight-loose, and made some good offloads as well, one to Arendse for his try.
Ox Nche 7: He also enjoyed a dominant scrum performance and did his bit in general play, with a few good ruck cleans, while he also carried the ball on occasion.
Bench 5: Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, RG Snyman and Franco Mostert entered the action in the 48th minute and performed well in the set-pieces and in general play, though the Boks weren’t as dominant in the scrums or lineoust as earlier in the game. Faf de Klerk and Kwagga Smith joined the game around the 52nd minute mark, with Smith busying himself in all aspects of the clash. Willie le Roux came on in the 62nd minute for his 99th Test.
