Flashback: Springbok line-up that suffered only loss to Italy

The Springboks will take on Italy in their next Nations Championship match at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday, 7 November.

Kick-off is at 13:40 (SA time).

The match will be screened live on SuperSport.

READ | Springbok youngster to be sent home?

Impressive record

The Springboks boast an impressive record against Italy, with 18 wins from 19 Tests played to date, for a win-percentage of 94.7% since they first locked horns in 31 years ago in Rome.

South Africa’s lone loss in those 19 Tests came at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence on 19 November 2016 when a largely second-string line-up captained by Adriaan Strauss and coached by Allister Coetzee went down 20-18.

As a reminder, here’s the Springbok team selected that day:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Damian De Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Teboho Mohojo, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Johan Goosen

Certainly not a first-choice match-day 23 at the time, but also not a team of no-hopers, with 510 Test caps in the starting XV and a further 84 on the bench.

The Springboks’ 18 points on the day came via tries by Bryan Habana and Damian de Allende, a conversion and a penalty from Pat Lambie and a penalty from Elton Jantjies.

South Africa vs Italy results to date

Date	Result	Venue
12 Nov 1995	Won 40-21	Olympic Stadium, Rome
8 Nov 1997	Won 62-31	Dall’Ara Stadium, Bologna
12 June 1999	Won 74-3	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
19 June 1999	Won 101-0	Kings Park, Durban
30 June 2001	Won 60-14	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
17 Nov 2001	Won 54-26	Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Genoa
21 June 2008	Won 26-0	Newlands, Cape Town
21 Nov 2009	Won 32-10	Stadio Friuli, Udine
19 June 2010	Won 29-13	Puma Stadium, Witbank
26 June 2010	Won 55-11	Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London
8 June 2013	Won: 44-10	Kings Park, Durban
22 Nov 2014	Won 22-6	Stadio Euganeo, Padua
19 Nov 2016	Lost 20-18	Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
25 Nov 2017	Won 35-6	Stadio Euganeo, Padua
4 Oct 2019	Won 49-3	Shizuoka Stadium, Fukuroi
19 Nov 2022	Won 63-21	Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Genoa
5 July 2025	Won 42-24	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
12 July 2025	Won 45-0	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
15 Nov 2025	Won 32-14	Juventus Stadium, Turin

No 1 in the World Rugby rankings

South Africa enter the Test ranked No 1 in the latest World Rugby rankings, with Italy down in 11th place.

A loss could see Rassie Erasmus’ men lose their coveted top spot in the standings, provided the All Blacks beat Scotland later the same day.

The Springboks have 93.09 points heading into the match, 0.82 more than New Zealand’s 92.27.

A loss to Italy by 15 or fewer points would see the Springboks lose two full rankings points while a defeat by 16 or more points would equate to a loss of three ranking points.

A draw after 80 minutes will see South Africa lose one point.

Standings

The Springboks currently lead the Southern Hemisphere standings in the Nations Championship on points’ difference from New Zealand with both nations boasting a perfect 15 points after three rounds.

SPRINGBOK TEAM

15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok

Match officials

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 1: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

Nations Championship Round 4 matches

All times SA

Friday, 6 November

Ireland vs Argentina – 22:10

Saturday, 7 November

Italy vs South Africa – 13:40

Scotland vs New Zealand – 16:10

Wales vs Japan – 18:40

France vs Fiji – 22:10

Sunday, 8 November

England vs Australia – 17:10

Prediction

South Africa to win by 26 points

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