Rugby Test Match: Springboks eye series whitewash over Italy on landmark day for Willie Le Roux
South Africa score six tries in 42-24 victory in Pretoria
After a stunning 54-7 victory over the Barbarians in Cape Town a couple of weeks ago, South Africa entered their second match of the summer as massive favourites last weekend, and they fully lived up to expectations, trouncing Italy 42-24 in front of a packed Loftus Versfeld.
With Siya Kolisi sidelined through injury, Jesse Kriel led the world champions into battle in Pretoria, and the stand-in skipper made an instant impact, crossing the whitewash in the 11th minute to give his side the lead, and they never looked back from then on.
Vincent Koch, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Marco Van Staden all got on the scoresheet for the Boks in the victory, while Morne van den Berg, who was making just his third appearance in the famous Green and Gold, bagged a brace and continued to make a case for the number nine jersey ahead of the Rugby Championship.
Handre Pollard made a perfect six of six conversion attempts!
While Rassie Erasmus has made wholesale changes for this weekend’s clash, bringing in the likes of Canan Moodie, Manie Libbok and Grant Williams, the Boks are firmly expected to dominate the match, and you can check out our South Africa vs Italy prediction for our expert’s insights.
Still, plenty of credit must go to the Italians, who, despite missing several first-team regulars, put up a proper fight in the second half last week and stood up to the Springboks’ usually formidable Bomb Squad, with Manuel Zuliani leading the charge, producing several turnovers through relentless tackling.
Le Roux set to join elite company this weekend
This weekend’s Test will be a landmark match for South African full-back Willie Le Roux, who will earn his 100th cap in the Green and Gold when he steps out on the field at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The 35-year-old will become only the eighth South African rugby player to reach triple digits for the Springboks, following in the footsteps of Percy Montgomery, Jean de Villiers, John Smit, Tendai “Beast” Mtwawarira, Bryan Habana, Victor Matfield, and Eben Etzebeth.
Le Roux first pulled on the Springbok jersey against Italy back in June 2013 in Durban and was part of the squad that won back-to-back World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023. Reaching the 100-match milestone is a testament to the player and team man that Le Roux is.
Erasmus makes wholesale changes to Boks' lineup
Erasmus has made as many as 10 changes for this weekend’s showdown in Gqeberha, with only Le Roux, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden and Jasper Wiese retaining their places from the run-on side at Loftus last week.
Stalwart Makazole Mapimpi and Edwill van der Merwe will take up their places on the wings this week, while the halves pairing features the dynamic duo of Manie Libbok and the rapid Grant Williams, while the colossus that is Pieter-Steph du Toit returns to lead the pack.
For Italy, Lorenzo Cannone has been ruled out of this match due to a back injury, which has forced Gonzalo Quesada into a reshuffle, with Ross Vintcent set to feature at number eight behind Sebastian Negri and Andrea Zambonin in the lock pairing.
South Africa vs Italy lineups:
South Africa starting lineup: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker
Italy starting lineup: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 David Odiase, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Giulio Bertaccini
Key information:
Date and Time: Saturday, July 12 at 16:10 GMT
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
How to watch: Supersport and SABC. You can also follow along live using our rugby livescore tool.
