The Springboks, a little surprisingly, never quite engaged all the gears in their opening Test against Italy at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
They got to their destination but it appeared to be from behind the wheel of a Hilux and not a Ferrari. Even they will admit a great deal of their journey was on grondpad (gravel road).
They won this match 42-24 but, given the amount of ball they had at their disposal, they should have won by a greater margin.
They were wasteful, and most of that can be put down to their inability to fully assert themselves at the breakdown. The Azzurri secured eight turnovers at the breakdown, and deserve credit for showing pluck and occasional pizzazz. The tourists made 123 tackles in the first half, and that commitment to the cause remained in the second.
The Bok defence at times left a lot to be desired, and the sight of Italy mauling them at a rate of knots on the way to the tryline would have made for disconcerting viewing from the coaches’ box.
Italy were combative from the outset.
After some stout resistance from the Italian defence, the Boks found a way over — even if it was a little unconventional. Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel aren’t the poster kids for their soft touches but it was De Allende’s well-weighted toe poke that enabled Kriel to run onto the bouncing ball and score the opening try in the 10th minute.
While the Italian defence deserve kudos for standing their ground in the opening quarter, the Springboks weren’t as ruthless as they should have been. Their attacks were at times disjointed and one dimensional.
At the ruck, they were not as clinical as they could have been, which perhaps explains why in that period Morné van den Berg, was more scrappy than “Krappie”. His fortunes, however, changed dramatically, and he ended up with the man of the match award.
The Boks’ fortunes also took a turn for the better when No 8 Lorenzo Cannone was yellow-carded in the 22nd minute. Losing a players to the bin against the back-to-back Rugby World Cup champions is as desirable as pineapple on pizza.
On the back of a dominant Springbok scrum, it was Van den Berg who picked up and touched down in the 22nd minute. He became more assertive as the match wore on, as evidenced when he scored his second try.
To their credit, the Italians stuck to their guns. Not even the deployment of the Bomb Squad drew an Azzurri blink
If the Boks' effort was a grind in the opening quarter, there was an element of effortlessness to their third try. Kurt-Lee Arendse’s well-timed incursion into the backline from a set play, came as a dagger blow to the Italians, who still had Cannone in the bin.
It was an exercise in simplicity. Debutant Vincent Tshituka won the ball in the lineout, Malcolm Marx transferred to Arendse, who burst through the first line of defence, and used his speed to complete a fabulous score.
Arendse doesn’t just chase tries, he embodies the Bok spirit in his pursuit of lost causes. His try-saving tackle on Simone Gesi was proof of that spirit.
The Boks suffered a double whammy early in the second half. Damian Willemse stepped up to the plate, as only he can, before Tshituka rounded off in the corner. The effort was chalked off on account of Ox Nché impeding a potential defender.
Soon after, Italy strung together a passage of play that yielded an almost unexpected bonanza. The tourists breached the Bok defences when Manuel Zuliani crossed the tryline.
Already stretched in the personnel department, after losing seven players in the last fortnight, Italy was dealt another blow when Cannone was stretchered off early in the second half.
To their credit, the Italians stuck to their guns. Not even the deployment of the Bomb Squad drew an Azzurri blink.
Italy will take heaps from this performance but for the Springboks there will be a fair amount of introspection.
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