No underestimating Italy this week, says Boks skipper Moerat

Springbok captain Salmaan Moerat says the team is fired up and ready to go toe to toe with Italy at the breakdown when the sides collide in their second Test of the incoming series at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday (kick-off 5:10pm).

The Boks clinched a comfortable 42-24 win in the first Test at Loftus a week previously, but were unhappy with a number of facets of their game, one of them being the breakdown, which was dominated by the Italians.

Despite a much changed Bok side being named for the second match, with just four survivors in the starting 15 from last week, Moerat claimed that the players coming in had seen enough and done enough prep in the week to be completely ready for the challenge.

“Their play at the breakdown definitely shocked us a bit and it was why we just couldn’t get going, particularly when we were in their 22,” explained Moerat.

“It does help if you played them the previous week. But even as non-players we still get a bit of a feel of what they did and what their plans are. That can change this weekend. All teams have an identity.

“They pride themselves on their physicality, and their breakdown is really good. They disrupted us there, and that is one area we worked hard on this week. We’re looking to counter that. We won’t be underestimating them.”

Heavy favourites

Despite the Boks being heavy favourites, against a team that is weakened due to a number of their star and experienced players being left at home, Moerat echoed many of his fellow players and coaches when he urged caution against them.

“They are a quality makeup, and feature players from Zebre and Benetton who know each other well. So they are in sync with each other, they have quality players and several game-breakers,” said Moerat.

“Their set pieces and kicking game are big aspects of their approach. Their kicking game is really good, but we have an experienced back three playing for us.”

Another poor aspect of the Boks game last week was at the lineout, and lock Moerat admitted that they were eager to improve drastically in that facet.

“The lineouts we lost were mainly down to our own standards. We are not going to change much, we just weren’t happy with our standards last week and have worked on lifting that. It is one area that we have really looked at as it is something the Bok pack pride ourselves on,” said Moerat.

Moerat also got a taste of what it is like to play in front of a passionate Gqeberha crowd when he featured for the Stormers in the URC in the city a few years ago and is looking forward to another great experience.

“We played against the Dragons here and it was amazing. You could see then that there are not many rugby matches played in Gqeberha and the people get really excited about and are very fond of rugby. There was a great vibe in that game and I am sure there will be again on Saturday,” he added.