Italy will be no easy opponents, say South Africa

Nov 4 - South African rugby stalwarts are warning that Italy is not to be underestimated when the sides meet in the Nations Championship on Saturday.

The top-ranked Springboks are 10 places above Italy in the world rankings and favoured to win Saturday’s clash against their injury-hampered hosts in Turin and stay ahead in the southern hemisphere section of the new competition.

But forward Jasper Wiese and back Damian Willemse, both named in the starting-line up, warned it will be no simple task at the start of the four-natch November programme.

"It’s not going to be an easy game. They are a strong side, and they’ll come up with good plans," Willemse told a press conference on Wednesday.

"We’ve got to stay dialled in and make sure we don’t lose track or any focus on what’s ahead. We saw last year when we played them here in Turin how dangerous they are."

South Africa were 32-14 winners at the same venue a year ago and have lost only once to Italy in 19 meetings, 20-18 in Florence 10 years ago.

"We’ve got to keep one foot in front of the other," said Willemse about the tougher task of taking on France and Ireland in their next two tests.

"We’ve got Italy this week and we’re very much focused on that game."

The Springboks’ unexpected defeat by Australia in Perth in September means there will be no complacency, promised Wiese.

"We spoke about it this week," he said. "We want to win and learn, but you can learn bigger lessons in defeat.

"We don’t want to become complacent and then lose. Obviously, we all want to win. I think there were just a couple of things that went against us against Australia," Wiese added. REUTERS