The Springboks were made to work incredibly hard for their win over an Italian side that they had been expected to easily beat.
The Springboks were given a run for their money by a game Italian outfit, but eventually ran out comfortable 42-24 winners in their incoming series opener at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
Italy impressed with a rush defence that caught the Boks out, and outscored the home side three tries to two in the second half as they fought back well from a 28-3 deficit at half time.
But despite the average effort from the Boks, they never looked in danger of losing a game they effectively controlled throughout. Here are four talking points from the match:
Superb Italian defensive effort
The Italians produced a brilliant defensive effort over the match, employing a rush defence that stopped the Springboks in their tracks initially.
They kept the hosts scoreless over the first 10 minutes, and it took a lucky looking try to get them off the mark, as captain Jesse Kriel looked to be ahead of Damian de Allende’s grubber, but after having a look, the TMO couldn’t overrule it. Despite that setback the Italy defence continued to hold firm.
They managed to repel the Boks a number of times in their own 22m area, until a 22nd minute yellow card to eighthman Lorenzo Cannone for cynical play near their line gave the Boks the momentum they needed to open up.
During his 10 minutes off the Boks rumbled over a scrum for Morne van den Berg to dot down, and Kurt-Lee Arendse scored a stunning solo effort off a lineout as they moved 21-3 up and 28-3 at halftime. The second half was even more impressive from the visitors, only allowing in two scores.
Strong showings from the newbies
The inexperienced players in the Bok match-23 overshadowed their more experienced teammates on the day. Scrumhalf Morne van den Berg got off to a slow start, but once he kicked into gear he dotted down for two tries; the first completely made by the pack as they rumbled over with him picking up the ball and diving over, and the second off the back of another strong scrum, but this time he had work to do, and sniped around the fringes to run in an excellent try.
Loose forward Vincent Tshituka, on his official debut, enjoyed another solid outing, producing a busy all-round performance. A week previously in the non-Test against the Barbarians, he put in an action-packed effort scoring two tries, and he continued that momentum with a good showing.
He was busy in the loose, strong in the rucks and ran hard out wide, and was unlucky to see what would have been his first official try chalked off by the TMO after obstruction in the build up.
Attacking revolution stumbles
The Springboks’ attacking revolution hit a bit of a roadblock against the Italians, as they struggled to get going. Part of that was due to an impressive rush defence that seemed to surprise the home side, while a number of mistakes on attack also slowed them down.
Earlier in the week the Bok management were quizzed about the team looking a bit more conservative than what they have put out in recent times, but said that those fears were unfounded. But the experienced side seemed to struggle to get going, with them looking less sharp than the group that over-ran the Barbarians in the rain in Cape Town a week previously, and that is something that they will need to look at going forward.
Add to that Italy putting in an improved attacking performance in the second half, which put the Bok defence under some pressure, and there is plenty to work on for the team ahead of the second match in Gqeberha.
Italy show second half fight
The Springbok coaches and players in the week were adamant that Italy could not be underestimated, even though they are ranked 10th in the world and had sent a weakened squad to South Africa, and leaving a number of star and experienced players at home. Despite these warnings many fans and pundits still expected the Boks to completely over-run their European visitors and were expecting a big score, similar to what was put over the Barbarians.
Despite their slow start, the Boks seemed to be hitting their stride after taking a 28-3 lead into halftime, and almost from the kick-off went over for a score in the corner. But that was chalked off by the TMO due to obstruction in the build-up, and that allowed Italy to come back.
Three second half tries to the visitors, including one disallowed after a brilliant cover tackle from Kurt-Lee Arendse meant Italy outscored the Boks in the second half, but still went down 42-24.
