The Springboks will be targeting a 17th win (out of 18) against Italy on Saturday, and as always there will be real interest in who will be the referee at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
This past weekend, Italy did a good job of disrupting the Springboks’ quick possession at the breakdown – and although some might say it wasn’t always legal – it certainly did the job.
In the second meeting this weekend, the Springboks will want to ensure there is a far better rhythm and flow to their play, and it will be interesting to see how effectively IRFU referee Andrew Brace handles proceedings.
He will be assisted by Matthew Carley and Hollie Davidson, while Tual Trainini will be in the TMO box.
Here is the referee team for the Springboks v Italy
South Africa vs Italy at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha – 17:10
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (RFU), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
Television Match Official: Tual Trainini (FFR)
Split Screen: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
Springbok record against Italy:
Played 17; Won 16; Lost 1; Points for: 806, Points against: 219; Tries scored 108, Tries conceded 19; Highest score 101-0; Biggest win 101 points. Win % 94%.
Miscellaneous:
- Willie le Roux will become only the eighth player in history to play 100 Tests for South Africa, following in the footsteps of Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, Tendai Mtwawarira, John Smit, Jean de Villiers, and Percy Montgomery.
- Le Roux made his debut against Italy on 8 June 2013 and will celebrate his 100th Test cap against the same opponents 12 years later.
- Makazole Mapimpi will play his 47th Test match on Saturday, and requires only three more Test caps to join the elite group of players who have played 50 Tests.
- Manie Libbok requires only two more points to score 100 Test points in the green and gold. He is currently on 98 points.
- The Springboks have faced Italy 17 times and won 16 of those matches. Their only defeat was in Florence in 2016, where Italy pipped the Boks by 20-18.
- The Wiese brothers (Cobus and Jasper) will become the 37th set of brothers to play for the Springboks.
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 493.
- There are 213 caps in the backline, with 280 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 98 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 30, the forwards 35, while the players on the bench average 12.
WHAT IS YOUR SCORE PREDICTION FOR SATURDAY?
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