South Africa breeze past outgunned Italy

Romantic notions of another shock result in Shizuoka at the Rugby World Cup were promptly put to bed as South Africa breezed to a 49-3 win over Italy on Friday. The Springboks won the collisions in the first half, and a red card early in the second put the game well beyond reach of the hopeful Italians.

There were bad signs almost immediately for the Azzurri. From the opening scrum they attacked wide but were turned over. In the background Simone Ferrari lay with a damaged hamstring, the tighthead prop forced off just two minutes in and replaced by Marco Riccioni.

Beast Mtawarira went straight at Riccioni at their first engagement, and the Springboks won a kickable penalty but they turned down a shot to go on the attack. It paid off with a multi-phase attack ending with a wide ball from Willie le Roux that found Cheslin Kolbe in just enough space to step past his opposite and dive over in the corner. Handré Pollard nailed the sideline conversion to take full advantage of the score.

Italy found their feet next and earned a penalty, which Tommaso Allan knocked over from just inside halfway. The restart did not go well, however, and South Africa were quickly back on the attack. Their wide ball was stopped this time but they were on advantage and soon Pollard was taking an easy three points to erase Allan’s effort.

The scrum would soon become a non-issue but not for any step-up in quality. Riccioni was forced off for a head injury assessment leaving Italy with two loosehead specialists on the pitch. That meant uncontested scrums. The Azzurri used the platform to attack but couldn’t crack South Africa’s line and play was soon down at the other end of the pitch.

Another penalty at halfway was sent into the corner by Pollard, who had no interest in kicking for the posts. This time the lineout went to work and when Italy were penalised for the first collapse, the Springbok pack went at them again. The second time worked a charm and Bongi Mbonambi was the try collector as he drove off the back, with Pollard again on target with the extras.

The Italians held on until halftime but a moment of what can only be described as sheer stupidity cost them dearly almost immediately after the break. With the Azzurri on attack after a Braam Steyn line break, Andrea Lovotti and Nicola Quaglio picked up Duane Vermeulen in a clearout and drove the Springbok No8 head-first into the ground. Referee Wayne Barnes decided that Lovotti was the more guilty of the two and sent him from the field, but Quaglio could just as easily find himself also hauled in front of the judiciary, such was the horror of the spectacle.

With the Azzurri now down to only 14 men there was no hope of a comeback. Kolbe grabbed a second after regathering a kick, Lukhanyo Am raced away on an intercept, Makazole Mapimpi finished off an attacking move, and RG Snyman received a gift from Matteo Minozzi. The final score went to Malcolm Marx on full-time from a lineout drive.

It’s a short turnaround for South Africa, who have only Canada left to play in the pool stage in Kobe on Tuesday. Italy’s involvement in the tournament will come to a close after their final pool match against New Zealand in Toyota next Saturday.

 

SCORING

SOUTH AFRICA 49
Tries – C. Kolbe 2 (5’, 52’), B. Mbonambi (26’), L. Am (58’), M. Mapimpi (68’), R. Snyman (76′), M. Marx (80′)
Cons – H. Pollard 4/7 (6’, 27’, 59’, 69’)
Pens – H. Pollard 2/2 (12’, 50’)

ITALY 3
Pens – T. Allan 1/1 (9’)
Red cards – A. Lovotti (43’)

 

TEAMS

SOUTH AFRICA
1 Tendai Mtawarira (17 Steven Kitshoff 45’), 2 Bongi Mbonambi (16 Malcolm Marx 51’), 3 Frans Malherbe (18 Vincent Koch 45’), 4 Eben Etzebeth (19 RG Snyman 54’), 5 Lood de Jager (20 Franco Mostert 60’), 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Duane Vermeulen (21 Francois Louw 64’), 9 Faf de Klerk (22 Herschel Jantjies 61’), 10 Handré Pollard, 11 Makazole Mapimpi (23 Frans Steyn 42’-53’), 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 15 Willie le Roux

ITALY
1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Luca Bigi, 3 Simone Ferrari (18 Marco Riccioni 2’ {17 Nicola Quaglio 19’}), 4 David Sisi (19 Alessandro Zanni 45’), 5 Dean Budd (20 Federico Ruzza 45’), 6 Braam Steyn, 7 Jake Polledri, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt.) (21 Sebastian Negri 60’), 9 Tito Tebaldi (22 Callum Braley 60’), 10 Tommaso Allan, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Jayden Hayward, 13 Luca Morisi (16 Federico Zani 56’), 14 Tommaso Benvenuti (23 Carlo Canna 69’), 15 Matteo Minozzi

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistants: Romain Poite (France) & Alex Ruiz (France)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

 

Attendance: 44,148