Springboks Overwhelm Italy with Powerful Victory in Gqeberha
In front of a passionate crowd in Gqeberha, South Africa delivered a statement performance with a commanding 45-0 win over Italy—despite being reduced to 14 men early in the contest.
The home side faced early adversity when loose forward Jasper Wiese was shown a red card in the 22nd minute after a head clash with Danilo Fischetti. But rather than falter, the Springboks rallied and produced a relentless, high-intensity display that left Italy unable to respond.
The opening try came after a lightning-fast break by Edwill van der Merwe, whose link-up play led to Grant Williams touching down. Not long after, van der Merwe powered through defenders to score one of his own. He struck again minutes later, chasing down a smart kick from Willie le Roux, who was marking his 100th international appearance.
Canan Moodie added to the tally with a try that saw him crash through two tackles, and although the Boks found themselves briefly down to 13 players when Wilco Louw was sent to the sin bin, they held their ground. Italy failed to make use of their numerical edge, especially after Fischetti was also yellow-carded, evening the numbers.
From there, South Africa took full control. Malcolm Marx muscled over from a maul, Mapimpi found space on the wing to sprint in untouched, and Jan-Hendrik Wessels capped off the scoring with a final try.
In a moment of personal pride, Cobus Wiese—Jasper’s brother—came off the bench to make his international debut, becoming part of the 37th sibling duo to represent the green and gold on the international stage.
Gqeberha: A Home Fortress for the Boks
South Africa’s unbeaten Test record in Gqeberha remains intact. The coastal city, previously known as Port Elizabeth, continues to be a stronghold where the Springboks thrive under the support of a loyal home crowd.
Team Sheets
South Africa Starting Lineup:
Willie le Roux, Edwill van der Merwe, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Manie Libbok, Grant Williams; Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, Wilco Louw, Salmaan Moerat, Marco van Staden, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese.
Bench Players:
Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ox Nche, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Cobus Wiese, Evan Roos, Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Joseph Dweba.
Italy Starting Lineup:
Lorenzo Pani, Louis Lynagh, Tommaso Menoncello, Marco Zanon, Federico Mori, Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Fusco; Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Simone Ferrari, Niccolò Cannone, Edoardo Iachizzi, Sebastian Negri, Manuel Zuliani, Ross Vintcent.
Bench Players:
Giacomo Nicotera, Mirco Spagnolo, Ion Neculai, Andrea Zambonin, Alessandro Izekor, Lorenzo Cannone, Stephen Varney, Pierre Bruno.
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