Sloppy Boks win but are given a second-half scare by Italy at Loftus

Daily Maverick

a day ago

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).