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'The way they have been playing in the Six Nations, they had good results... So we have to make sure we give them their respect.'
Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said Italy are the perfect opponents for South Africa in their first official Test match of the season.
South Africa take on Italy at Loftus on Saturday (kick-off 5.10pm) after crushing invitational side Barbarians 54–7 last weekend.
Italy have been weak historically but are much improved in recent years. They beat Namibia 73–6 last week. Also, since the beginning of last year they have beaten Wales (twice), Georgia, Japan, Tonga and Scotland, drawing to France and losing to Ireland by five points and England by three.
They finished fifth in the Six Nations, but their scrum was statistically better than Ireland’s and Scotland’s. They ended with an impressive 75.68% scrum win percentage. At the same time, Ireland had 75% and Scotland had 70.37%. That, while Italy are known to be a good attacking team.
Italy: More than just passion
Stick said, “You could not ask for a better team” as an opponent.
“The way they have been playing in the Six Nations, they had good results. Even when they played against teams like Ireland, they were close until the end. So we have to make sure we give them their respect,” the coach said.
“They are a very well-organised team. If you look at the stats from the Six Nations and the way they’ve balanced their game. Everyone keeps on saying they like to play running rugby but you must look at the [kicking stats]. This is a team that averages around 31 kicks per game.
“They are very organised as a team. Having a coach from Argentina [Gonzalo Quesada] and we know Argentinians are also very emotional people. So I think now they are getting a good balance in a sense of controlling the emotions and making sure they convert them into rugby.”
Springboks must play against Italy as France did
Stick said Italy were a team that would hurt the Springboks if they had too much possession and momentum. He said their outside backs in particular, would have to be shut down.
“It was only France that put them away with over 60 points [73–24]. And that only happened later on in the game. France, when they played against them, they made sure that they did their plans very well physically and they capitalised on their opportunities.
“I think that is going to be the key thing for us also. We want to start well and bring some proper intensity into the game. As long as we keep executing the plans we spoke about, if we can improve on last week, we will have a better chance to win the game.”
