Boks get Azzurri revenge

The Springboks enacted their revenge on the Italians for last year's defeat with a convincing 35-6 victory in Padova on Saturday.

The conditions were wet and slippery with the Boks resorting to their driving maul as a result to good effect.

Tries from Francois Louw, Bongi Mbonambi, Francois Venter, Stephen Kitshoff and Franco Mostert proved too much for Italy who were kept tryless.

A Carlo Canna penalty gave Italy a 3-0 lead with ten minutes gone after Bok captain Eben Etzebeth had been penalised for an infringement at the lineout.

The Boks, however, began to exert their pressure taking the ball through the phases before Louw reached over from close range after a series of powerful carries from the forwards.  Handre Pollard added the extras to make it 7-3 to the Boks after 14 minutes.

Soon after, Canna reduced the deficit to one point with another penalty after Bok lock Lood de Jager was found guilty for not rolling away.

Mbonambi then scored on his starting debut going over at the back of a lineout driving maul after the Boks won a scrum penalty when the Italians were culpable of illegal wheeling.  Pollard slotted the resulting penalty between the sticks to give the Boks a 14-6 lead after 25 minutes.

The Boks extended their lead to 21-6 when Venter joined Mbonambi in grabbing his first Test try after a Pollard crossfield kick bounced kindly for the Cheetahs captain to dot down.  Pollard converted.

Canna missed a penalty on the half-time whistle after Bok skipper Eben Etzebeth was penalised for a high tackle on Italian counterpart Sergio Parisse which ensured the score remained 21-6 to the Boks as the sides went in to the interval.

Shortly after the resumption of the second half, Kitshoff burst over at the back of a lineout driving maul with Pollard slotting the resulting conversion to give the Boks a 28-6 buffer.

Mostert then got himself on the try column with a late score bursting over after a series of powerful carries from the Bok forwards.  It was Elton Jantjies who made the initial break down the left.  Jantjies converted as the Boks claimed a 35-6 victory.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pens:  Canna 2

For South Africa:
Tries:  Louw, Mbonambi, Venter, Kitshoff, Mostert
Cons:  Pollard 4, Jantjies

The teams:

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Giovanni Licata, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Francesco Minto, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian Mckinley, 23 Matteo Minozzi

South Africa:  15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Warrick Gelant

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  JP Doyle (England), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)