Jesse Kriel to lead Springboks into battle at Loftus
Jesse Kriel, a veteran of three World Cups and 81 Test Matches, will lead the Boks following Siya Kolisi's injury.
The Springboks are nine places above Italy and have scored an average of 55 points in winning seven previous home matches between the countries.
"Everyone expects us to beat Italy, but they were really competitive in the first two rounds of the 2025 Six Nations Championship," said coach Rassie Erasmus.
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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Springboks made to sweat as spirited Italy expose deficiencies in the world champions
Springboks fans mesmerised by the hammering of the Barbarians would have been disappointed by this 42-24 Springbok victory but, in truth, this tough work-out against the hardy Italians was just what the doctor ordered. On the eve of the match, there was a telling comment from Bok captain Jesse Kriel, who said the rugby world had got it wrong in writing off Italy and predicting a 50-plus score. This was because Italy had left some star players at home, but they were replaced by hungry graduates from the Italy Under-20 side of two years ago that conquered Europe. The balance of the Italy team was Six Nations warriors who almost beat Ireland. That said, the Boks were seriously under par in some areas, notably the lineout, where the visitors poached five throws. That will be a huge concern for coach Rassie Erasmus. Still, as said earlier, this was exactly the examination Erasmus would have wanted. The Boks are in the middle of a four-match building phase before the Rugby Championship, and they want to be tested so that they can grow. This coming week, they play Italy again, in Gqeberha, and finish this preparatory phase against Georgia in Mbombela. They have a month's break before Australia visit for two Tests, and then the season climaxes with two away Tests against the All Blacks. That is why the Boks need these early workouts to shrug off rust and confront limitations. After the high of pummeling the Barbarians in the rain in Cape Town, it was a clumsy opening 10 minutes from the Boks. It was hardly the emphatic start they had planned as handling errors halted momentum. But the Italy scrum was creaking, and a penalty won was kicked to the corner, and phases later Damian de Allende nudged a grubber into the in-goal area for centre partner Jesse Kriel to gather and score. The Italians were on the back foot, and a yellow card for flanker Lorenzo Cannone as the first quarter lapsed was a big whack into the threatened dam wall. He pulled down a maul near his line, and from the ensuing scrum, the Boks rumbled forward and scrumhalf Morne van den Berg scored the easiest of tries. There was a penalty from Italy flyhalf Giacomo De Re on 25 minutes but the outgunned Italians were far from finished. An opening half an hour that had failed to set pulses racing ended spectacularly when Kurt-Lee Arendse came off his blind side wing and took a pass from Pollard. He beat several defenders to score a magnificent try that had the crowd find its voice. Five minutes from the break, another advancing scrum in the Italy danger zone saw Van den Berg dummy through a gap for his second try. The technician in charge of the flood gates had his finger poised on 'open' when the Boks seemed to have scored a minute into the second half, an effort created by fullback Damian Willemse, and strongly finished by debutant Vincent Tshituka, but the TMO ruled obstruction. Instead, Italy flank Manuel Zuliani barged over from close quarters to put some wind into his team's flagging sails. The visitors visibly picked up their game. That try in the 46th minute signaled the entry of the bomb squad. Ten minutes into the half, the Boks settled down and controlled phase play saw Vincent Koch, the spitting image of cartoon character 'Mr Incredible', barrel over for a try. But there was no sign of a white flag from Italy, and they came within inches of scoring when their left wing went over in the corner but had a foot in touch. They got it right, though, when a rolling maul propelled Pablo Dimcheff over for a try. The Bok lineout continued to falter and possession won against the run of play saw lock Niccolo Cannone crash over. Suddenly it was 35-24 with ten minutes to go, and the Boks were looking green around the gills and not so golden. Flanker Marco van Staden finished off a siege on the Italian line to give the score the respectability Book fans wanted, but it was hardly a convincing display by their team. Scorers Springboks — Tries: Jesse Kriel, Morne van den Berg (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Vincent Tshituka, Vincent Koch, Marco van Staden. Conversions: Handre Pollard (6). Italy — Tries: Manuel Zuliani, Pablo Dimcheff, Niccolo Cannone. Penalty: Giacomo De Re. Conversions: De Re (3).
eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
Van den Berg strikes twice as Boks beat Italy
PRETORIA - Scrum-half Morne van den Berg scored two tries as Rugby World Cup title-holders South Africa beat Italy 42-24 in Pretoria on Saturday in the first of two Tests. It was a game of two halves with the Springboks using their scrum power to score four tries and build a 28-3 lead by half-time in front of a near-capacity crowd at the 52,000-capacity Loftus Versfeld. But much-improved Italy outscored the record four-time World Cup winners by three tries to two in the second half despite fielding an experimental team with numerous first choices remaining in Europe. Victory continued the 100 percent record of South Africa when hosting Italy, but it was the second smallest winning margin in eight Tests since 1999. The other Springbok try scorers were captain and centre Jesse Kriel, winger Kurt-Lee Arendse, replacement prop Vincent Koch and flanker Marco van Staden. It was a special moment for tighthead Koch when he barged over as he notched his first try for South Africa while winning his 62nd cap. The outstanding try came from Arendse, who raced through the Italian defence from midfield to score after Test debutant Vincent Tshituka won a lineout. Veteran fly-half Handre Pollard slotted all six conversions, raising his total for the Springboks to 784 points in 81 Tests. Flanker Manuel Zuliani, replacement hooker Pablo Dimcheff on debut and captain and lock Niccolo Cannone scored tries for the Azzurri. Fly-half Giacomo Da Re kicked three conversions and a penalty for Italy, whose starting line-up included only five of the team beaten by Ireland in their last 2025 Six Nations Championship match. When Da Re converted the Cannone try with 11 minutes remaining, there were only 11 points between the teams, raising the possibility of a stunning victory for the visitors. But the Springboks put the outcome beyond doubt on 74 minutes when Van Staden powered his way over the line and Pollard maintained his perfect record from the kicking tee. The second Test is scheduled for Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha next Saturday.
Daily Maverick
3 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Sloppy Boks win but are given a second-half scare by Italy at Loftus
The Springboks beat Italy 42-24 (halftime 28-3) in the first Test at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. It's not often that a six-try performance can be labelled as scrappy and mediocre, yet there is no hiding from the fact that the Springboks gave one of their worst displays in years against a gallant Italy. To be more accurate, the second half was one of the worst by the Boks in the Rassie Erasmus era. The first half was more polished with the Boks holding a 28-3 lead at the break. It went south after halftime though, through a combination of Italian grit and fighting spirit and Bok mistakes. Italy 'won' the second half 21-14, which was a fair reflection of how the match unfolded. The second half was shambolic by the world champions as they coughed up the ball, lost lineouts and fell off tackles. Italy deserve some credit for staying in the fight and disrupting the Boks with their abrasive attitude, but even so, this was as bad as the Boks' display in Santiago against Argentina last year. The most positive outcome for the Springboks was that they won and can move on with another victory. But as Erasmus reiterated during the build-up, the Boks don't measure their success by the final score, but rather on the detail of the performance. By that measure, this was a failure for the Springboks because they let a comfortable and commanding position turn into a scrap. The Boks were beaten badly at the breakdown, especially in the second half; the Bomb Squad failed to provide its usual positive impact, and the set piece also wilted the longer the game went on. The sight of the Springbok pack being mauled back 20m by the Italian eight was a sight that will make the rest of the rugby world happy and send some jolts through South African rugby. That is not supposed to happen to a Bok pack. The Boks will never admit it, but it appeared that there was some complacency after the break. They started the second half well when flank Vincent Tshituka thought he had scored a try, only for it to be ruled out for apparent obstruction during the build-up. Ox Nche was deemed to have blocked a tackler getting to fullback Damian Willemse. Let's just say it was a marginal call. That moment seemed to shift the momentum of the game, two minutes into the second half. Instead of a fifth try and being more than 30 points up, Italy were just about still in the game and that made them keep their heads up. The Boks went into their shell for the next 25 minutes as Italy's chests swelled. With each Bok mistake, and there were many, Italy's confidence grew. If there is another positive for the Boks to take away from the Test, it was a reminder that past performances and achievements count for nothing. Every team is improving and Italy, with as many as 10 regulars missing, will pick far more positives from their display than the home team. Flying start The Boks won the match in the first half, scoring four unanswered tries in the stanza with Italy barely having any possession or territory. Being forced to defend for most of the opening 40 minutes was energy-sapping, yet despite conceding those tries the Italian defence was impressive. Had they not been so committed and organised, it could have been much worse. The tries they conceded though, were not down to defensive lapses as much as simply running out of bodies. The Boks' opening try, scored by captain Jesse Kriel, needed a lovely grubber kick from Damian de Allende to finally break the Italian resistance after 10 phases. Kriel appeared to be marginally in front of De Allende but referee Hollie Davidson let it stand and the Boks were underway, 11 minutes into the match. Scrumhalf Morne van den Berg was an excellent, buzzing presence and was rewarded with two tries. His first came via a familiar route. The Boks earned a penalty close to the Italian line and opted to scrum. It was a good call as they shoved the Italians towards their own line. No 8 Jasper Wiese controlled the ball at the base and Van den Berg perfectly picked his moment to pick up and score. Best try The best try of the match came from superb wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who scythed through the defence from 40m out when running on to a Malcolm Marx pass. It was a set play from a lineout and it worked a treat, but still needed a player of Arendse's class to provide the finishing touches. Arendse later showed the other side of the game with a try-saving tackle on wing Simone Gesi when the Italians were on top. Van den Berg completed the first half, scoring with his second try, this time throwing a good dummy to a ranging Cheslin Kolbe, which opened the space for the halfback to score. The Boks might have thought the job was done at that stage, but Italy had other ideas after the break. Flank Manuel Zuliani crashed over from close range, going through the double tackle of Marx and Wilco Louw to give the visitors the smallest foothold in the game. The Boks managed a rare foray back into Italian territory, and from a multi-phase attack, Vincent Koch scored as he sniped from the side of a ruck. That didn't end the Italian resistance though. Minutes later replacement hooker Pablo Dimcheff scored from the back of that 20m rolling maul, to remind their opponents that they were going nowhere. Lock Niccolò Cannone scored with just more than 10 minutes to go, to narrow the deficit to 11 points and send a brief shiver through the 42,000 at Loftus. But the Boks shut the door with a late Marco van Staden try. DM Scorers: è Pollard (6).
