The Springboks have ‘refreshed’ their team for the third match on their November tour, and they will be relying on a new-look squad to get the job done against an unpredictable Italy side at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday afternoon.
It’s quite an early kick off, at 14:40 (SA Time), and this encounter will provide an opportunity for the likes of Ethan Hooker, Morne van den Berg, Zachary Porthen, Edwill van der Merwe and BJ Dixon to impress the national coaches.
“We said from the outset of the tour that we want to give as many players as possible a chance to play, and we believe this team is best suited to the threats Italy will pose,” said Rassie Erasmus.
“One of our key pillars is to build squad depth, and it’s great to have players like Jean (Kleyn), Handre (Pollard), Edwill, and Ben-Jason back, who have all been in the mix in the last few seasons.
“Handre and Jean have played in Rugby World Cups, while Ben-Jason and Edwill have both performed for us at the highest level, and we are excited to see what they’ll bring this weekend.”
HERE IS ALL THE KEY INFORMATION TO NOTE AS THE SPRINGBOKS BRACE FOR BATTLE AGAINST ITALY
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Ethan Hooker, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Gerhard Steenekamp, 17 Wilco Louw, 18 RG Snyman, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.
Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex (captain), 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Ross Vintcent, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Tommaso Allan.
Date: Saturday, November 15
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Turin
Kick-off: 14:40 SA Time
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Jérémy Rozier (France)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against Italy:
Played 18; Won 17; Lost 1; Points for: 851, Points against: 219; Tries scored 113, Tries conceded 19; Highest score 101-0; Biggest win 101 points. Win % 94%.
Miscellaneous:
- RG Snyman requires only one Test cap after Saturday’s encounter to join the select club of players to earn 50 Test caps.
- The Springboks have faced Italy 18 times and won 17 of those matches. Their only defeat was in Florence in 2016, where Italy pipped the Boks by 20-18.
- This will mark the first time the teams face one another in Turin.
- Mani Libbok requires only nine more points to score 150 Test points.
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 430.
- There are 193 caps in the backline, with 237 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 240 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 28, the forwards 30, while the players on the bench average 30.
