‘Italy have potential to cause damage,’ says Boks’ Bongi Mbonambi

Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi is preparing for a tough battle up front when they take on Italy in their incoming series opener at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.

The Boks are putting out a strong starting front row for the game, with Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw kicking things off and they will be backed up by a just as strong a front row on the bench, namely Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Mbonambi and Vincent Koch.

But despite the expected dominance from both Bok front rows, Mbonambi believes Italy’s forward performance in the Six Nations shows that they will be a challenge.

“The Italian pack proved what they can do in the Six Nations. We saw how hard they scrummed against top packs. They have a system that they believe in. They’ve proven themselves to be a threat, and they have a plan to use their pack,” explained Mbonambi.

“They also have a coach in Gonzalo Quesada who drives that passion. They may have a smaller group of players to choose from compared to South Africa with so few clubs, but they are hard-working players, and we are expecting a tough day at the office.

“We are expecting a massive battle from them, and we know they are going to come hard at us up front for 80 minutes, so we cannot afford to get comfortable at any stage of the match because they have the potential to cause damage.”

Heavy favourites

The Boks are, however, heavy favourites for the match, having named an experienced and powerful side, and are expected to brush aside the challenge of the Italians, but Mbonambi cautions that they cannot be underestimated.

“Some may be underestimating them, but as a team, we have a lot to lose if we let ourselves down on the field,” said Mbonambi.

“The public will have a different look and feel towards the game, but the planning for us this past week has been based on the perception that Italy are going to come down here with a massive challenge.

“Their backline players are powerful runners, and we’re going to have to front up. We’re never going to get to a place in the game where we are comfortable and allow them to play their game.

“We are going to have to implement our system, our power and our physicality onto them before they try what they want to do.”