Boks brace for Italian pack

This week’s fixture has effectively become the Springboks’ first knockout game of the competition due to the fact that a loss to Italy would end South Africa’s campaign after the pool stages.

Italy have already beaten Canada and Namibia so a win over the Springboks would book the Azzurri a spot in the quarterfinals. It adds a lot of pressure to a match that would typically see South Africa’s as favourites.

The match promises to be a typical North versus South battle of the forward packs and the upcoming set piece battle is already a focal point.

Speaking to the media from their base in Omaezaki on Monday, forwards coach Matt Proudfoot gave plenty of praise to their opponents pack and said that his players need to meet the challenge head on.

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“That is the challenge, they’ve got a very smart forwards coach and they’re very tough. What they’re going to bring to us is similar to what we do. They try to take you on at set phase and there’s not much space to get away from it, so you’ve got to confront it,” Proudfoot said.

“They’ve had two years to prepare for this game and they’ve had 8 days since their last game so they will be up for it. It’s going to be a fantastic test. As we get later in this competition the tests are going to get more and more important. For both of us this is a very desperate situation, they’re going to be extremely hungry and desperate. This is their opportunity so we’ve got to be good.” 

In 2016 Italy upset the Springboks on their end of year tour. While the result is one that ranks up there with the memory of their World Cup loss to Japan, Proudfoot said there isn’t much merit in looking back to that result or the performance itself.

“It’s a long time ago. What I’m taking out is how pleased I am that the pack is working and showing their teeth. We’ve got incredible forwards in this squad and I say it as such. It’s a squad of forwards, 17 of them and it’s a privilege to work with these guys, they’re intelligent, they work hard for each other and back each other,” Proudfoot said.

On par with All Blacks

There is no doubt that the Springboks’ brains trust are taking the upcoming forward battle as seriously as possible. 

While Saturday’s win over Namibia was a straight-forward contest, their opening game of the tournament against the All Blacks was an acid test for the Springbok pack. Aside from the number of penalties conceded, South Africa and New Zealand came out fairly equal in the set-piece battle.

Assessing the upcoming challenge, Proudfoot put the Italian forward pack in the same league as their rivals from New Zealand.

“I would put this challenge as a forward pack on par with the All Blacks. They’re smart the Italians. They’ve got a culture of scrummaging and mauling. If you look at their maul, it’s very effective and they put a lot of heat on your lineout contesting-wise,” the Springbok forward coach said.

“This is not just a brawn game, there’s going to be a lot of brain going into this plan and the execution under pressure is going to be key.”

The Springboks face Italy this coming Friday at the Shizuoka Stadium. Kickoff is at 11h45 South African time.

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