Scottish referee Hollie Davidson became the first female match official to take charge of a Springbok Test last year against Portugal in Bloemfontein, and she now returns to South Africa for their first international encounter of the season against Italy.
Davidson has become well known for her calm demeanour and strong communication, and she will be supported on Saturday by assistant referees Matthew Carley (England), Andrew Brace (England).
Another Englishman Andrew Jackson will serve as the TMO.
Springboks, Italy and referee information:
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)
Commenting on what he expected against Italy, Springbok coach Erasmus said: “They are a quality team with a strong pack and quality backs, and their passion for the team and their country is incredible, so we expect them to throw everything at us.
“They also play an exciting brand of rugby, so it will be important for us to stick to our structures and deliver a quality performance all around to get the desired result.
“We have a big squad, and we would like to balance the game time within the group, while at the same time maintaining continuity in selection, and we believe this is the team that will be best suited for what we want to achieve against Italy,” added Erasmus.
“We are also fortunate to have a few experienced players back from injury, who will be keen to make their mark in the game.”
SPRINGBOKS – 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.
Miscellaneous stats and facts:
- The Boks 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.
What is your score prediction?
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