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The Springboks will look to make it back-to-back wins over Italy in the Castle Lager Incoming Series on Saturday, 12th July at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha (and six test wins in a row), which will see Willie Le Roux earn his 100th Springbok cap.
Salmaan Moerat captains the team, taking over the mantle from Jesse Kriel, who has led the team to two wins over the past two weekends.
Following last weekend’s 42-24 win at Loftus Versfeld, Springbok Head Coach Rassie Erasmus had mulled changes to the original selections despite the comfortable but unconvincing 16th win for the Boks over Italy. In the end, only seven players remain in the squad that achieved the win; Le Roux, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese, start with Ox Nche and Jan-Hendrik Wessels among the bomb squad.
Erasmus said of the selections, “We said from the outset that we would rotate the team as we have a large and very talented squad, and all but three of the players have played Test rugby before. 13 players in this squad have won a World Cup before, 11 of whom are in the starting lineup and two on the bench, and that shows the depth we have as we continue to build our squad for the next few seasons and ultimately the 2027 Rugby World Cup.”
Willie Le Roux will become the eighth Bok centurion as Erasmus named three uncapped players to complete the job against Italy, and five players coming into the squad having recovered from various injuries.
Erasmus said of the centurion to be. “Willie has been a stalwart for us in the last few years after making his debut against Italy in Durban in 2013, and he’s a fantastic playmaker, so we are thrilled to see him achieve this incredible feat. To reach this milestone is a testament to the player and the team man that Willie is.
Potential Test debutants are Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Cobus Wiese (brother of Jasper Wiese who also starts) and Ethan Hooker the exciting wing from the Sharks.
The Wiese brothers will become the 37th set of brothers to play for the Springboks.
The backline again shows the depth the team has at their disposal. Edwill van der Merwe and Makazole Mapimpi form a back-three with Le Roux, Andre Esterhuizen, and Canan Moodie offer some midfield muscle and guile while Manie Libbok partners with the lively Grant Williams at halfback after the Sharks scrumhalf made a recovery from injury.
In the pack, Jasper Wiese, Van Staden and the returning Pieter-Steph du Toit will keep the Italians busy at the breakdown and in defence. Ruan Nortje and Moerat start in the second row, with Thomas du Toit completing a hefty and powerful front row with Louw and Marx.
Evan Roos is one of five forwards and three backs on the bench, with the backs cover coming in the form of livewire Cobus Reinach, the talented Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Hooker.
Of Italy, the Bok coach explained, “We said from the get-go that they are a tough team and that they will test us, and we know that their performance last week will psyche them up going into this match.
They will come hard at us and deliver another passionate performance, but we also have high standards as a team, and we know that we need to shift into a different gear this weekend to produce a performance we can be proud of.”
Italy Head Coach Gonzalo Quesada has bolstered his squad by handing uncapped hooker Giampietro Ribaldi from Zebre Parma a place after a string season in the United Rugby Championship.
The coach said of the challenge they face, “We know their level will rise significantly. They’re not happy with this game and will want to improve. But we also have room to grow and will take confidence from this.”
He had said the goals on this tour were to beat Namibia and challenge South Africa, as well as develop depth, and they have done that so far. An unlikely Italy win could see them move up to ninth in the World Rugby rankings (if Fiji don’t defeat Scotland).
18 of the Azzurri squad play in the URC, and Italy have made four personnel and one positional change for the final match. Quesada has selected the most of the same tight five but (hooker Tommaso Di Bartolomeo comes into the starting XV) and made changes to the back row, where Manuel Zuliani keeps his spot but Sebastian Negri starts on the blindside and South African-born Ross Vintcent is at number eight. Last week’s No. 8 Lorenzo Cannone was stretchered off with a suspected back injury.
Marco Zanon and full-back Mirko Belloni (a first start) are two new faces amongst the backs.
Andrew Brace (Ireland) will take charge of South Africa v Italy for the first time as the match referee.
