BEWARE OF ITALY
CHANGES: HAND MAY BE FORCED TO AVOID WINLESS TOUR
Springboks may need to stick as close to their strongest side as possible in Genoa.
The Springboks may be forced to change a few plans as they face an important must-win match against Italy in Genoa this coming weekend. After two narrow defeats over the past two weekends against the top two teams in world rugby, Ireland and France, the Boks are now in danger of going winless on their end-of-year tour.
That is due to the recent renaissance in Italian rugby, with them having won five of their last six internationals, including picking up two massive scalps by beating Wales and Australia.
After losing their first four games in the Six Nations earlier this year, Italy then upset the odds to beat Wales, ending a 36-match and seven-year losing streak in the competition.
They followed that up with mid-year wins over Portugal and Romania, before slipping up against Georgia.
They then started the November internationals with a thumping 47-19 win over Samoa, before following that up with a first-ever win over Australia, 28-27, and they will head into this weekend’s clash against the Boks with plenty of confidence.
The Boks will be desperate to pick up a win over Italy on Saturday, as their final match of their end-of-year-tour against England at Twickenham next weekend falls outside of the international window, which means their France and England-based players will be unavailable for the game.
The Boks have only lost to Italy once in their history, a 20-18 defeat in Florence back in 2016, which was also the year that they went winless on their end-of-year tour.
They won’t want to repeat that feat a year out from the World Cup, making the Italian match vitally important for them to get a much-needed win, and build momentum ahead of the England match.
The Boks would always have been targeting the Italy match to give a number of their extended squad members a run, however they may now need to stick as close to their strongest side as possible, to try and give themselves the best chance of emerging with a win.
They are expected to have an enforced change or two, with Pieter-Steph du Toit set to know his fate today when he attends a World Rugby disciplinary hearing after he picked up a red card in the loss to France.
Cheslin Kolbe was concussed in the same match, while Joseph Dweba has been called up to the Bok squad on standby, which may suggest Bongi Mbonambi or Malcolm Marx are in doubt.
Salmaan Moerat may also get a start and Eben Etzebeth might get a well-deserved rest.