The Springboks have set their sights on a strong start to a busy international season, and the first test will come against underdogs Italy at Loftus on Saturday.
The match kicks off at 17:10 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
FOLLOW THE LIVE SCORING OF THE SPRINGBOK GAME AGAINST ITALY AT LOFUTS
SA record against Italy: Played 16; Won 15; Lost 1; Points for: 764, Points against: 195; Tries scored 102, Tries conceded 16; Highest score 101-0; Biggest win 101 points. Win % 94%.
Date: Saturday, July 5
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17:10
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Andrew Brace (England)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)
Miscellaneous:
- The Springboks have played Italy seven times in South Africa, but this will be the first Test between the sides at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, where the hosts have a 78% win record (32 wins from 41 Tests).
- Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok to 132 caps when he takes the field.
- Damian Willemse will play his first match for the Springboks since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand, which the Boks won 12-11.
- Should Willie le Roux take the field, it will mark his 99th Test match for the Springboks, putting him in line to become only the eighth Springbok centurion in history. He made his Test debut against Italy in Durban in 2013.
- The Springboks have faced Italy 16 times and won 15 of those matches. Their only defeat was in Florence in 2016 where Italy pipped the Boks by 20-18.
- In the 15 matches the Springboks have won against Italy, they only scored fewer than 30 points on three occasions.
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 738.
- There are 351 caps in the backline, with 377 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 466 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 50, the forwards 47, while the players on the bench average 58.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named a squad that feature 13 players who defeated the Barbarians 54-7 in Cape Town, and with regular Springbok captain Siya Kolisi out after picking up a niggle last week, Jesse Kriel retains the captaincy.
Springbok team to face Italy – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Bench: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux.
What is your score prediction?
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