PREVIEW: ITALY vs SOUTH AFRICA
Written by William Brown – Rugby 15
Photo: Anton Geyser
The touring Springboks come up against Italy at the Stadio Euganeo in Padua on Saturday in the third test match of their post-season tour of the northern hemisphere.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer has announced a starting line-up which shows four changes from the team that defeated England at Twickenham last week.
Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury. This injury may well be a blessing in disguise for the good doctor. He has surely been over-played in the last few seasons and the break may well offer him some much-needed rest before a 2015 season which sees the return of the much-anticipated World Cup. Du Plessis will be replaced by the burly Free Stater, Coenie Oosthuizen, who gets another opportunity to prove to the many doubters that he could indeed be a success at tighthead. The Azzuri loosehead, Matias Aguero, is no easy opponent, and Oosthuizen will have to be at his best to weather the storm.
Du Plessis’s regular partner in in the front row, Tendai “Beast”Mtawarira, has also been given a well-deserved break. His place at loosehead goes to Trevor Nyakane, who has been awarded his first run-on selection for the Boks. Nyakane can expect a stern test from Azzuri tighthead Martin Castrogiovanni, who is widely regarded as one of the best scrummagers in the world.
A further change sees Johan Goosen replacing Willie le Roux at fullback, while Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje takes the place of the unavailable Schalk Burger.
Two debutants have been offered a chance to impress from the bench. They are Lions’ tighthead prop Julian Redelinghuys and Western Province loose forward Nizaam Carr.
Meyer’s selection strikes one as being somewhat conservative. While winning is important to retain momentum in the build-up to the World Cup, this match surely offered him his last opportunity to rest stalwarts such as Jean de Villiers, Duane Vermeulen and Bryan Habana. Questions were raised when a 36-man squad was announced for this tour. It seems as if there will be players in this squad who will once again return from a tour of the northern hemisphere without any game time. While one needs to realise that Bok caps are not to be given away randomly, this match was surely the opportunity for fringe players to prove that they can make the step up. One example is Damian de Allende who has not had any rugby since the end of August against Argentina. Jaco Kriel and Seabelo Senatla could also have shown whether they can take their excellent Currie Cup form onto the test stage.
One does, however, need to put aside these doubts about Meyer’s selection, and concentrate on the match at hand. The Boks have never been beaten in the eleven times that they have played Italy and should hold too many trump cards for the Azzuri. The hosts have been in terrible form lately and will have to perform a rugby miracle of epic proportions to beat Jean de Villiers’ men. Rugby matches are, however, not won on paper and the Italians will be highly motivated to prove that they belong in the top echelons of world rugby. They are ably lead by number eight Sergio Parisse, who is without a doubt one of the better eighthmen in world rugby. Their forward pack has developed a reputation as being one of the toughest in the world, and the Boks will definitely have their work cut out to subdue Parisse and his bulky “amico’s”.
Italian coach, Jacques Brunel, has selected Fijian-born flank Samuela Vunisa in the only change to the team to face the Springboks on Saturday.
Vunisa, who will make his debut on Saturday, will replace Simone Favaro in the loose trio after the Treviso player suffered a sore neck in training.
The full line-ups for this test match are as follows:
ITALY
15 Andrea Masi
14 Leonardo Sarto
13 Michele Campagnaro
12 Luca Morisi
11 Luke McLean
10 Kelly Haimona
9 Edoardo Gori
8 Sergio Parisse (Captain)
7 Samuela Vunisa
6 Alessandro Zanni
5 Joshua Furno
4 Quintin Geldenhuys
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini
1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:
16 Andrea Manici
17 Alberto De Marchi
18 Dario Chistolini
19 Marco Bortolami
20 Francesco Minto
21 Guglielmo Palazzani
22 Luciano Orquera
23 Giulio Toniolatti.
SOUTH AFRICA (caps in brackets)
15. Johan Goosen (5)
14. JP Pietersen (58)
13. Jan Serfontein (18)
12. Jean de Villiers (Captain) (104)
11. Bryan Habana (105)
10. Pat Lambie (38)
9. Cobus Reinach (4)
8. Duane Vermeulen (27)
7. Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje (5)
6. Marcell Coetzee (24)
5. Victor Matfield (119)
4. Eben Etzebeth (31)
3. Coenie Oosthuizen (19)
2. Adriaan Strauss (42)
1. Trevor Nyakane (11)
Replacements:
16. Bismarck du Plessis (68)
17. Guthrö Steenkamp (52)
18. Julian Redelinghuys (0)
19. Lood de Jager (7)
20. Nizaam Carr (0)
21. Francois Hougaard (33)
22. Handré Pollard (7)
23. Willie le Roux (23)
The referee is Frenchman Jerome Garces who will officiate in his fourth test match involving South Africa.
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)
The match kicks off at 16:00 (CAT).
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