Springboks v Italy: By the numbers

SOUTH AFRICA v ITALY – NELSON MANDELA BAY STADIUM, GQEBERHA – KO 5.10pm

Referee

Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Test debut: 10 June 2017 – Canada 0-13 Georgia

Tests as referee: 36

• Andrew Brace will take charge of this fixture for the first time.

• South Africa have a record of W5, L1 with Brace in the middle, their only defeat being 27-26 against England at Twickenham in November 2021.

• This will be the fourth time that Brace referees the Springboks on home soil, having overseen wins over New Zealand and Argentina in Johannesburg and a 32-12 defeat of Los Pumas at this venue in August 2021.

• Brace has already refereed Italy twice in 2025 with a 47-24 loss to England in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations in March and a 73-6 defeat of Namibia on 27 June.

• The Azzurri have a W3, L3 record with the Irish official in the middle with their other losses having come at the hands of New Zealand (66-3 in November 2018) and France (35-22 in February 2020).

• Brace, a former Belgium international, will be an assistant referee for two matches in the Pacific Nations Cup 2025 Final Series in Denver, Colorado on 14 September.

Head-to-head

Played: 17 – South Africa leads 16-1

Points for: South Africa 806/Italy 219 (Avg. score 48-12)

Highest score: South Africa 101 (101-0 on 19 June, 1999)/Italy 31 (31-62 on 8 November, 1997)

Biggest winning margin: South Africa 101 (101-0 on 19 June, 1999)/Italy 2 (20-18 on 19 November, 2016)

First met: 12 November, 1995 – South Africa 40-21 Italy – Stade Olimpico, Rome

Last met: 5 July, 2024 – South Africa 42-24 Italy – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Head-to-head notes

• The most recent win came in Pretoria last Saturday when South Africa outscored Italy by six tries to three in a 42-24 victory.

• Captain Jesse Kriel gave the Springboks the perfect start in the 11th minute before scrumhalf Morne van den Berg, playing only his third Test, scored twice.

• In a blistering first-half performance, wing Kurt-Lee Arendse also picked up a try to establish a 28-3 lead.

• Hooker Manuel Zuliani reduced the arrears when he scored Italy’s first try before Vincent Koch hit back for the Springboks.

• Debutant Pablo Dimcheff scored with 15 minutes to go and captain Niccolo Cannone ended his four-year wait for a second Test try to set up a grandstand finish.

• However, flanker Marco van Staden scored for the Springboks with eight minutes left to close out the win.

• South Africa scored seven points during two sin-bin periods, after yellow cards were handed to Lorenzo Cannone midway through the first half and Alessandro Izekor eight minutes from time.

• Both teams were exceptionally clinical, with the Springboks averaging 4.6 points for each of their nine visits into the Italian 22 and the Azzurri 4.2 points from five visits.

• Italy’s only victory against the Springboks was 20-18 in Florence in 2016.

• The home side had lost all 12 of their previous encounters with the Springboks, dating back to 1995, all by 16 points or more.

• Tries from Bryan Habana and Damian de Allende gave the Springboks a 12-10 half-time lead.

• But Italy, guided by Irish coach Conor O'Shea, fought back and Giovanbattista Venditti added to South African-born Dris van Schalwyk's first-half try.

• A Carlo Canna penalty with 15 minutes to go gave the Azzurri an historic win.

• Prop Simone Ferrari is the only player named in the current Italian squad to have played in that match, but there are seven survivors from South Africa – Faf de Klerk, De Allende and Willie le Roux in the backs and Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager and Pieter-Steph du Toit in the forwards.

• The 63 points scored by South Africa in Genoa in 2022 is the most against the Azzurri since the Springboks won 101-0 in Durban back in 1999.

Team notes

• South Africa have won their last five Tests, dating back to the 29-28 defeat to Argentina in September.

• Ireland were the last team to beat them on home soil, 25-24 in the second match of a two-Test series in July 2024.

• South Africa have won 11 of their last 14 home Tests, with the defeats coming against Ireland, New Zealand and Wales.

• South Africa’s first run out of the year was the 54-7 win against the Barbarians in Cape Town on 28 June.

• The home side were up 19-0 at half-time, courtesy of tries by Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kolbe and Vincent Tshituka.

• They added five more after the break, including a second for Tshituka. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Arendse, De Jager and De Allende also got on the scoresheet.

• South Africa have won their last five home matches, including the Barbarians win, dating back to Ireland’s 25-24 win at King’s Park in July 2024.

• Italy warmed up for their two-test series against the Springboks with a 73-6 win against Namibia in Windhoek on 27 June.

• Fullback Jacopo Trulla led the way with a hat-trick of tries, while Leonardo Marin, Simone Gesi, Tommaso Menoncello, Alessandro Fusco, Mirco Spagnolo and Stephen Varney also crossed.

• Italy’s win was bookended by two penalty tries.

• Giacomo Da Re kicked six conversions and Varney added a seventh.

• It was Italy’s first Test on Africa soil since they lost 44-10 to the Springboks in Durban in 2013.

Team news

• Le Roux will become the eighth Springbok to reach 100 Tests when he runs out against Italy in Gqeberha, following in the footsteps of Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield, Habana, Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit, Jean de Villiers and Percy Montgomery.

• The fullback, who made his Test debut against Italy in June 2013, is one of only seven players retained in the match-day 23 from the first Test victory last weekend.

• Only four players remain in the starting line-up in hooker Marx, tighthead Wilco Louw, flanker Van Staden and No 8 Jasper Wiese.

• English Premiership winner Thomas du Toit joins Marx and Louw in the front row with Salmaan Moerat to captain the Springboks alongside Ruan Nortje in the engine room.

• World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year Du Toit fills the vacant spot in the back row alongside Van Staden and Wiese.

• Grant Williams and Manie Libbok will combine at half-back with Andre Esterhuizen and Canan Moodie the new centre pairing for the Springboks.

• Makazole Mapimpi and Edwill van der Merwe will line-up on the wings with Le Roux at fullback on the day he joins the centurion club.

• It will be a first Test for Van der Merwe since he made his debut against Wales in June 2024.

• There are three uncapped players on the bench in prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye, utility forward Cobus Wiese and back Ethan Hooker.

• Wiese will be hoping to make it onto the pitch alongside his brother Jasper. A Test debut for Cobus will make the Wiese brothers the 37th set of brothers to play for the Springboks.

• Italy have made four personnel and one positional change for the final match of their African tour.

• The front-row trio of Danilo Fischetti, Tommaso Di Bartolomeo and Ferrari is unchanged, as is the pairing of captain Cannone and Andrea Zambonin in the engine room.

• However, only Manuel Zuliani remains in the back row with Sebastian Negri selected on the blindside and Ross Vintcent promoted from the bench to start at No 8.

• Flyhalf Da Re will have Alessandro Garbisi alongside him this weekend, one of two new faces in the backline for the second Test.

• The other comes at full-back where Mirko Belloni earns a first start after making his debut as a replacement against Namibia.

• This means a shift to the left wing for Trulla, a hat-trick hero against Namibia, with Louis Lynagh going again on the right.

• The centre pairing of Marco Zanon and Tommaso Menoncello is unchanged.

Coach notes

• Rassie Erasmus returned to the Springboks head coach role in February 2024, signing a contract that takes him up the end of 2027.

• Erasmus was the mastermind behind the Springboks’ back-to-back Rugby World Cup successes of 2019 and 2023 – as head coach and then director of rugby.

• HIs reign in charge started with a defeat to Wales in Washington DC in June 2018.

• Erasmus won 36 caps for South Africa as a back-row forward from 1997-2001.

• Gonzalo Quesada was appointed as Italy head coach in June 2023, succeeding Kieran Crowley in the role.

• He has won 42% of his games in charge (P26, W11, D1, L14).

• Quesada, who turned 51 in May, was part of the France coaching set-up between 2008 and 2011 under Marc Lièvremont, helping them to win the Men’s Six Nations Grand Slam in 2010 before reaching the Rugby World Cup final the following year.

• The Pumas legend joined Italy from French outfit Stade Français Paris, who he led to the Top 14 title in the first of his two spells in charge.

• Quesada also coached Los Jaguares to the 2019 Super Rugby final and is the first Argentinian to be a head coach in the Men’s Six Nations.

• As a player, Quesada scored 486 points in his Test career, winning 38 caps for Los Pumas.

• His Test playing record against the Springboks was P4, L4 with two defeats coming in South Africa (49-29 in June 2002 and 26-25 in June 2003).