Rassie Erasmus backs new-look Springboks to deliver against Italy in Turin

The Springboks have targeted the match against Italy as another opportunity to give some of their newly capped players a run at international level — a test to see if they can handle the pressure on foreign soil.

Following last weekend’s brilliant 32-17 victory over France, the responsibility now rests on the shoulders of the 23 players selected to maintain that winning momentum against the Azzurri.

With Italy coming off a strong win over the Wallabies, they’ll be playing in front of an expectant crowd at the Allianz Stadium (2.40 pm kick-off), which should add to the spectacle.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus has made several changes to his starting XV, with only four players retained from last weekend’s run-on side. A rookie front row will lead the scrum, and there is no recognised hooker on the replacement bench.

“I won’t say this is the strongest Italian side ever, but it’s certainly one of the strongest in a couple of years,” Erasmus said of their opponents. “For the first time in a while, we have fewer caps on average than our opposition. Yes, we have a few younger guys and we’re away from home against Italy, but we’ve prepared as well as we can.

“They have several game-breakers, they’re playing good rugby and are coming off a strong win. Both teams will have to reach that emotional peak and maintain it again this coming weekend.”

Erasmus believes this is the perfect pressure-cooker test for the likes of loosehead Boan Venter, hooker Johan Grobbelaar and tighthead Zachary Porthen to show their mettle.

They will have the experienced trio of captain Siya Kolisi, lock Franco Mostert and eighthman Marco van Staden around them for guidance. Van Staden is also pencilled in as the backup hooker.

At the back, a youthful midfield combination of inside centre Ethan Hooker and outside centre Canan Moodie will win their first caps as a pairing.

They will look to flyhalf Handré Pollard and fullback Damian Willemse for direction on attack, but will also need to front up defensively against Italy’s dangerous backline.

While the Boks could have fielded the same team as last week, Erasmus said they didn’t want to risk a repeat of the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final, where the team appeared deflated against England after a bruising quarter-final battle with France. He also wanted to show respect to the Italians by fielding a fresh, hungry side.

“The French game took a lot out of the players,” he said. “We arrived back at our hotel after the game at 1am, went to the airport at 4am, and then you fly — so there isn’t really time for sleep. When we got to Italy, the hotel rooms weren’t ready until late afternoon.

“We want the younger, less-capped players to face this great Italian side that beat Australia comfortably at home. It will be a close game, in my opinion, and we’ll learn a lot about our players — and whether they can make it or not.”

Teams for Turin

Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Ethan Hooker, 11 Kurt-Lee Arende, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, Jean Kleyn, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Boan Venter.

Replacements: 16 Gerhard Steenekamp, 17 Wilco Louw, 18 RG Snyman, 19 Ruan Nortjé, 20 André Esterhuizen, 21 Kwagga Smith 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.

Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo; 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney; 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Ross Vintcent; 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.

Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Tommaso Allan