After back-to-back defeats on the end-of-year tour, the Springboks shall be determined to say a cushty victory over Italy on Saturday, and ease a few of the stress that has been constructing on the group.
Besides a disappointing begin to the tour for the Springboks and South Africa ‘A’, there have additionally been a number of off-field headlines round flyhalf Elton Jantjies, group dietician Zeenat Simjee, and naturally Rassie Erasmus.
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On Thursday, it was confirmed that World Rugby has issued Erasmus with a ban on all match-day actions for two video games because of current social media posts. As a outcome, he might not participate in any match-day exercise in relation to the two upcoming Tests towards Italy, and England on 26 November, 2022.
Despite this potential distraction, Siya Kolisi spoke to the media on Friday, and refused to be drawn into any controversial feedback about Erasmus. Instead, he merely reiterated that his group shall be taking part in for all South Africans once they meet the Azzurri at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday afternoon.
The Boks suffered slim defeats towards the two top-ranked groups in the world, Ireland and France, in the final two video games, and Kolisi stated his expenses have been decided to alter their fortunes.
“We come off two tough games, which we lost,” stated Kolisi.
“Our focus is totally on taking part in Italy. It’s an enormous sport for us. We don’t wish to go three video games and not using a win. So we’ll present Italy the respect they deserve. We noticed how they performed in the final two video games, so know what they will do.
“We’ll be playing for South Africa, for the people back at home. Playing to win the game is all that is on our minds right now. The most important thing is to make sure that we stand up because Italy is a very good team.”
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TEAMS
Italy
15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Montanna Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Substitutes: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Tommaso Menoncello
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok
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SPRINGBOKS RECORD AGAINST ITALY:
Played 15; Won 14; Lost 1; Points for: 701, Points towards: 174; Tries scored 96, Tries conceded 14; Highest rating 101-0; Biggest win 101 factors. Win % 93%.
Milestones:
- Siya Kolisi is the second most capped Springbok captain having led the facet in 43 Test matches.
- Eben Etzebeth is the second most capped Springbok lock with 108 Tests.
Miscellaneous:
- The complete Test caps for the Springbok beginning line-up is 544.
- There are 255 caps in the backline, with 289 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are an extra 327 caps.
- The common caps per participant in the backline are 36, the forwards 36, whereas the gamers on the bench common 40.
