The Springboks’ head coach Rassie Erasmus this afternoon named his starting XV set to lock horns with Italy during the Castle Lager Test Series on Saturday, July 12 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
Speaking to PE Express, Erasmus said that although the team’s defence was disappointing in the previous fixture against Italy on Saturday, July 5, he is hopeful for the upcoming game against Italy.
“If you look at the three tries the opponents scored during the second half, you will notice that they did not outsmart us, but those tries were purely down to our own mistakes. We had a lot of one-on-one tackles that we missed, resulting in the tries,” he said.
Erasmus added, “When we were attacking, they were really competing at the breakdowns, like they did in the first two Six Nations games. They really manned up physically, as was evident when big guys like Eben [Etzebeth] were hit hard and they kept doing that. Yes, it is frustrating to concede three easy tries with all our players on, but that is something that is fixable.” He further added, “That was our problem in the reverse fixture, but the guys playing this weekend will hopefully fix that.”
Springbok winger Makazole Mapimpi said that it is great to play in his province. “All of us as a team are excited to be back here after so many years. When we play in Gqeberha and East London, it feels different. People on this side don’t often get the opportunity to watch big games like these. I am sure that people are excited to turn out in numbers to watch us.”
The Springboks will be looking to maintain their dominant record over Italy when the two sides clash in Gqeberha this weekend. With 16 wins from 17 encounters, 108 tries scored, and only 19 conceded, the Boks boast a win percentage of 94% against Italy.
Chosen to lock horns against Italy are:
1 Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 77 caps, 110 pts (22t)
3 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 17 caps, 0 pts
4 Salmaan Moerat (captain, DHL Stormers) – 10 caps, 0 pts
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 6 caps, 0 pts
6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 26 caps, 20 pts (4t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 86 caps, 60 pts (8t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 35 caps, 10 pts (2t)
9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 17 caps, 20 pts (4t)
10 Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 19 caps, 98 pts (1t, 30c, 11p)
11 Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 46 caps, 160 pts (32t)
12 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 0 pts
13 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 12 caps, 25 pts (5t)
14 Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 1 cap, 5 pts (1t)
15 Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 99 caps, 75 pts (15t)
And the reserves are:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)
17 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 40 caps, 0 pts
18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions) – uncapped
19 Cobus Wiese (Vodacom Bulls) – uncapped
20 Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – 7 caps, 0 pts
21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 39 caps, 70 pts (14t)
22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 52 pts (14c, 8p)
23 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – uncapped
