South Africa vs Italy, Sat 19 June, Witbank, 13:00 GMT, 15:00 local

[Intercept King JDV]

Teams:

South Africa: Z Kirchner (Bulls); G Aplon (Stormers), J de Villiers (Western Province), B James (Bath), B Habana (Stormers); M Steyn (Bulls), R Januarie (Stormers); G Steenkamp (Bulls), C Ralepelle (Bulls), J du Plessis (Sharks), B Botha (Bulls), V Matfield (Bulls, capt), F Louw (Stormers), D Potgieter (Bulls), P Spies (Bulls)

Replacements: B Maku (Bulls), CJ van der Linde (Free State Cheetahs), A Hargreaves (Sharks), R Kankowski (Sharks), R Pienaar (Sharks), J de Jongh (Stormers), B Basson (Cheetahs)

Italy: L McLean (Benetton Treviso), K Robertson (Viadana), A Masi (Racing Metro), M Pratichetti (Viadana), M Bergamasco (Racing Metro), C Gower (Bayonne), T Tebaldi (Banca Monte Parma), S Perugini (Bayonne), L Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester), V Bernabo (Roma), Q Geldenhuys (Viadana), S Favaro (Banca Monte Parma), A Zanni (Benetton Treviso), S Parisse (Stade Francais, capt),

Replacements: F Ongaro (Saracens), L Cittadini (Benetton Treviso), M Bortolami (Gloucester), P Derbyshire (Padova), S Picone (Benetton Treviso), R Bocchino (Rovigo), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne)

Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)

Assistant Referees: Andrew Small (Eng), David Changleng (Sco)
TMO: Geoff Hughes (Eng)

Source

Francois Louw gets another start as Schalk Burger had to pull out of this match with an ankle sprain.

Also good to Bakkies back in action^_^

 

[cyRil]

You guys resting Heinrich or is he injured?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Oh dear Changleng running the line ... god help him.

Some consistency coming through the Italian ranks now. Still expect a rampant South Africa side tho.

 

[Intercept King JDV]

You guys resting Heinrich or is he injured?

He is injured, out for the rest of the year.B)

Oh and I will be going to this game, the 1st rugby test that I will see live:cheers:.Can't wait!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Will this be the first game Parrise has played since his ban?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Will this be the first game Parrise has played since his ban?

I thought it was that knee injury he had in the autumn ... could be wrong.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ah, that's probably it, i just can't remember seeing him for a while/remember he got a ban at some point in the past season

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Ah, that's probably it, i just can't remember seeing him for a while/remember he got a ban at some point in the past season

Be good to see him back anyway. Italy missed him during the 6 Nations.

 

[Intercept King JDV]

Yeah he said on Boots & All tonight that he got injured last year before the Samoa game, last game he played was last year against SA, 1st game back in action and he'll have to face SA again

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Haha, that's a bit of a coincedence,
Wonder if he'll be very rusty, having not played for a year,

Italy definately missed him in the 6N but i think it was his leadership more than skills, while he's definately thier best 8, his replacement (whose name escapes me) did admirably.
Just looked it up and it was Zanni, who's playing at 7. Not a bad backrow they've got there

If this was in Italy I think Italy would have a better chance (not win, but do better) - i can't see anything other than a big win for the Boks though

 

[Intercept King JDV]

Well having a South African that understands Afrikaans in Quintin Geldenhuys in their team could help Italy a wee bit in the line-outs when Matfield makes the calls, haha not really.

I expect Italy to be very physical upfront in the scrums, think thats the only area where they might(very small might) dominate the Boks...

I reckon the scoreline should be around 44 - 19 to the Boks

 

[SelimNiai]

I expect Italy to be very physical upfront in the scrums, think thats the only area where they might(very small might) dominate the Boks...

I reckon the scoreline should be around 44 - 19 to the Boks

Thats probably how it will go down, I think SA will pull away in the final quarter after the Italians tire themselves out up front. Won't be surprised if there was a couple of Italian sin-binnings too.

48- 14 to the Springboks

 

[TRF_Cymro]

It be interesting to see how the battle between Steenkamp and Castrogiovanni. I have been impressed with Steenkamp this season. Good in the loose and his scrummaging aint that bad.

 

[Intercept King JDV]

Did you guys know that Naas Botha won a Currie Cup ***le with the Bulls on a Saturday, that same evening he flew to Italy and then the next day(Sunday) he won a ***le with an Italian club side:huh:, forgot the team's name...

Not sure if this is 100% true as this is the 1st time I've heard about it(still need to google it), this is what Nick Mallet said tonight on Boots & All while talking about the rugby bond between SA and Italy.

EDIT:Italian team's name he played for is Rugby Rovigo

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Won't be surprised if there was a couple of Italian sin-binnings too.

If Bergamasco loses his rag when his teams losing, like he did against Wales, i wouldn't be surprised

 

[danit]

If Bergamasco loses his rag when his teams losing, like he did against Wales, i wouldn't be surprised

that Bergamasco (Mauro) is not in the squad, injured, we just have his youger brother playing at the winger (and he's no madcap)

keen to see how his young replacment (Simone Favaro) will perform

I'd say Boks to win by 42

 

[MichaelBoard]

Don't expect the Itis to win this but I really hope they play above themselves and don't let the boks win it easily. Italy are without question a team on the up with 2 of their club teams moving into a more quality and competitive league in the Magners League. They've got quite a good pack which can more than stand up for themselves in the scrum and possess some players of genuine quality in the bergamasco brothers, Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni. Also I think former captain Marco Bortolami, recent departee from Gloucester is a quality player in the second row. Hopefully coming into the world cup in 2011 they'll be much improved and start to threaten teams alot more because they are capable of it. A combination of the lack of clinicalness and frustrating mistakes are the difference between them and the bigger teams at the moment. If they can address this then they could be genuine contenders to get out of their pool in 2011 as I think they were unfortunate not to in 2007. Though they would have to cause a genuine upset in beating either Australia or Ireland (Ireland probably the more realistic out of the two) and both the Europe 2 and Americas 2 qualifiers. Just hope they give South Africa a real game tomorrow. One thing that Italy can't be knocked for is there passion and commitment.

 

[MunsterMan]

Pratichetti? Why not start Canale?

S Perugini (Bayonne), L Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester)

Should provide a decent test for the Boks

Shame Mauro is out, excellent player. Zanni - Parrise - Bergamasco = a top backrow. Italy look to have a decent pack together for the 6N next year.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Is Josh Sole not ivloved this time round? Always thought he was a handy operator. Or what about Paul Derbyshire?

 

[MunsterMan]

While we ae asking about Italian players, anyone seen Andrea Marcato?