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The Boks, unbeaten thus far in 2010, head down to Witbank of all places to take on the Azzuri.
It’s a weakened Bok side, but the Force is strong with Peter de Villiers and his crew, Will they be able to avenge their roundball compatriots and give Saffa sporting fans something to smile about after a horrible week?
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Butch James, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 François Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Bjorn Basson.
Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (Captain), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Valerio Bernabò, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Gonzalo Canale.
Date: Saturday, June 19
Venue: Puma Stadium, Witbank
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Expected weather conditions: Clear with a high of 13°C, dropping to 0°C and enough wind to take the windchill temperature down to -2°C.
Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Assistant referees: Keith Brown (New Zealand), David Changleng (Scotland)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
PDV should have given Kanko a run seeing as this is only Italy!!
@wpw (Comment 1) : Howzit hater. Did you see the cricket scorecard?
Hope Butch has a blinder . . .
Why not rest big Vic? Honestly?
Butchie go make our Sharks proud
Got SA to win by 10 so don’t let us down
When did Butch get the nod??
Geez it’s cold!!
15 minutes to kick off.
Sunny in Witbank, not much of a wind around.
Butchie looking pumped..
Anthems to be sung..
Italy kick off and immediately penalised for runners infront the kicker.
Guthro murdering Castrogiovanni in the scrums!!
Ricky “the pie” Januarie is flapping his arms at the ref while the Italians are stealing our ball.. CHOP!!
Sa 0 – 0 Italy
10 minutes
Hmmm…. 10 minutes and no points.
Oh ignore me. First points on the board…by ITALY.
SA 0 – 3 Italy
Penalty for Italy, SA offside.
Bergamasco lines up in front the poles and grabs 3 points.
SA 0 – 3 Italy
12 minutes
Italy with 73% of the possession in the first 12 minutes!
Penalty to SA.
Steyn slots to equalise.
SA 3 – 3 Italy
14 minutes
TRY HABANA!!
Started from a Italian lineout stolen by Matfield, down the line, Kirchner grubbers ahead and Habana pounces.
Steyn converts
SA 10 – 3 Italy
18 minutes
Castrogiovanni has been replaced.. seems to be scared of Guthro!!
need to take my hat off to Zane there… he did good.
For once
Zane looking better.. best I’ve seen him play.. created a try and caught the high ball..
Good run from Habana.. chipped ahead and looked like he was taken out without the ball.. replays show the man stood his ground, so Habana should have run around him..
Seems Habana wants an Oscar like the Bafana and English soccer team.
JDV with a typical intercept.. didn’t get very far though. Good to have him back in the team.
Was beginning to get bit worried Richard…not watching are we takibg our time getting into the game, or are the Azzuri hasseling us?
Italy are playing really well hey.. they have a lot of the pssession and are camping in our half. SA seem to either be very calm and know they will win at the end, or are battling to find their feet..
The SA backline looking very dangerous when they actually get the ball.. we just don’t have the ball.
That Meisiekind’s not playing, JDV passing to the assistant referee
SA 10 – 3 Italy
30 minutes
Boks mauling it up after a lineout from 10m out.
TRY FRANCOIS LOUW
Flo gets a try as they rumble it up, he breaks off and scores in the corner.
Steyn with a difficult conversion from the sideline.. misses it
SA 15 – 3 Italy
32 minutes
Thanks…really wish that we would start putting these types of games away in the 1st half.
So do I hey.. but it seems we have a problem with the whole teamwork idea.. everyone playing for themselves in these type of games.
SA have had to make 39 tackles compared to the 13 made by Italy.
SA penalised for a runner in front the kicker..
Bergamasco lines up a 40m kick.. misses to the left
SA 15 – 3 Italy
36 minutes
Penalty to SA.. Italian 6 obstructing Habana as he was chasing the kick..
SA opt for the lineout inside the 22m of the Azzuri..
TRY STEYN!!
Maul from the line broke up and a loose ball spilled out. Steyn picked up, stepped a few times and fell over the line.
Converts his own try!
SA 22 – 3 Italy
39 minutes
And thats half time..
SA 22 – 3 Italy
Very little possession for the Boks in the first time. But when we did go into their 22m, we scored.
Lineouts and scrums looked steady, but we should be owning them in both departments.
If Boks can get more ball, we will walk this.
Second Half has kicked off..
Boks mauling it from a lineout..
Chiliboy stopped just short.. Ball turned over after Ricky accidently kicked the ball..
Another lineout in the 22m
Finally home and I can watch the game, I have only been watching for 3 minutes and Januarie is annoying me.
Haven’t watched any of it and he is annoying me!
KIRCHNER TRY!!
Scrappy stuff from the Boks.. no real great stuff. Kirchner scores after a few passes down the line.
Steyn converts from the sideline..
SA 29 – 3 Italy
49 minutes.
GO RICKY !!!
@lostfish (Comment 39) : He is very annoying!! He has his touches, but I really don’t think he deseves his spot..
Bakkies replaced earlier, I must have missed that..
Jannie replaced by CJ van der Linde
Sshhh don’t let wpw hear you…
Hargreaves on the park for Bakkies..
Go Sharkie!!
Butch tackles high.. A fight ensues..
YELLOW CARDED!!
Buth James annoying me big time
I don’t want to be cynical, but I think that might be the end of Butchies chances of playing more rugby for the Boks..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 43) : Thats my feeling, he has some good touches but he keeps doing silly things, taking far too long at the rucks, a lot of the time his passing is too high or too low.
Go Sharks!
Not a great tackle from Butch – at least he used his arms
@lostfish (Comment 50) : He is very slow and should stop fussing with the ref and get the ball to the backs..
SA stuff up a line out in the 22m.. very sloppy!!
Butch has no right being there
@Just a Fan (Comment 55) : Unfortunately I have to agree with you. I would love him in the Sharks side.. but we have much better centres in the country.. rather play de Jongh and the like..
Boks have a try disallowed and the Azzuri go and score a try!!
Parisse the captain scores after a breakaway.
SA 29 – 10 Italy
63 minutes
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 56) : There are better centres but Butch would be our best bet as back up at flyhalf.
sweet Januarie has gone off
A whole bunch of replacements on now..
Pienaar in at Scrumhalf
Butch moves to Flyhalf
de Jongh comes to inside centre..
Seems like Januarie and Steyn have left the field
I wish they pull off Spies now to give Kanko a run!!
@lostfish (Comment 58) : I prefer Grant to be very honest.. he is solid and kicks a whole lot better.. Agreed tat he has his days off, but Butch is really not looking good today.. part of the disappointing Euro players.
It would be hypocritical of PDV to play Butch if he isn’t playing in SA. Who is on for Januarie?
Azzuri get a penalty and go for goal..
The reason for his is that Mallett bet his team that if they lose by less than 20 points, he will shave his head..
Ruan Woods…
@Just a Fan (Comment 63) : Pienaar on for Januarie
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 62) : Butch is looking a little off. Could be the pressure to perform. I like Grant too but Butch has that little bit extra.
Pienaar is so much better a scrumhalf compared to Ricky..
Sloppy play from SA, forward passes and dropped balls, its like they not in the game..
SA 29 – 13 Italy
71 minutes
Is the guy blowing the whistle a coach or a ref?
@lostfish (Comment 67) : Agreed.. I’m a huge Butch fan.. I would pick him before all the other flyhalves when he is on form.. But lately he just isn’t hiself..
Basson on for Kirchner now.. Aplon will move to fullback..
Kanko on for Potgieter..
5 minutes to play
Don’t get why PDV says that Ruan is the “tiger woods” of rugby and then starts Januarie ahead of him.
Yay! For Kanko
Maku makes his debut.. he is on for Chili
What is the point of Maku coming on for the last minute? Are we handing out test caps now?
@lostfish (Comment 74) : I know.. it seems we only playing him because he was on the bench.. kinda like a pity cap..
SA 29 – 13 Italy
Full time
It seems that way!
Ruan asleep or just slow ?
What a rubbish game… 7 points in the second half.
Very disappointing!!
Player of the match? Stand out performance? Your thoughts?
Personally..
Zane (surprisingly) played well.. better than expected..
Bakkies had a decent game while he was on the park..
Guthro made it count in the front row.. scrummed well against the supposed “stronger” Italian scrum.
Ricky for Man of Match…
Hahaha!! Good one Charlie
Morne Steyn good game…
What was the final score?
Final score
29 – 13
Not a very convincing score…it worries me that we don’t have that killer instinct going into the 3N’s
Jislike you guys can’t be objective!!
If Ruan is such a better scrummie than Ricky why didn’t Jake select Ruan ahead of Ricky??
Julle kan darem nonsens praat!!
Dude, Ricky was kak!! Jake had to play him for his colour.. end of discussion!!
JAF
We showed that killer instinct against the Six Nations Champions didn’t we??
And this was far from our strongest team.
We will be very competitive during the Tri Nations
Never rated Januarie – EVER. Even when Jake coached. WPW everyone is entitled to their opinion without being abused. Please keep it civil.
You are way off the mark Richard!!
Ruan has never had a good game at scrumhalf for the Boks!!
I will rather experiment against minnows like Italy
@wpw (Comment 92) : That’s because he has never been given a good run at scrumhalf.. how many games has Ruan had to cover fullback and flyhalf and all sorts from the bench..
I’m sure I can count Ruan’s scrumhalf games for the Boks on one hand!!
JAF
And this coming from someone who thinks that ‘pivot’ is the position of scrumhalf!!
You may not rate Ricky but he has had more match winning performances at scrumhalf and nothing you say can change that!!
Wtf are talking about? Chap
Well Ricky plays 9, but Ruan agrees to play anywhere, but complains afterward if it does not work out
Well he certainly didn’t take any chances that came his way!
In Ricky’s very first match for the Boks he had a blinder against the AB’s in NZ. Scored a try that nearly won us the game.
He also had good games against the AB’s in CT when he kept applying pressure on Carter which resulted in a victory to the Boks.
He also did well against the Aussies at Ellis Park when Jean and Mossie started their first match together…
Those are game where he was a huge asset to the Boks!!
He took his chances, Ruan didn’t!! End of story!!
Agreed WPW.. he had some great games, you must have been following him quite well..
But that doesn’t away the fact that he is slow, doesn’t have his old crisp pass anymore, and his boot is seriously lacking!
There are better around, and even if it’s not Pienaar, there are others that deserve the spot above him.
@wpw (Comment 98) :
Ricky was shit today. That doesnt make him a poor player.
But arguing against the obvious makes a you look like a fool.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 89) :
I’m sorry, but thats just a stupid comment: he has played well for us many times.
@Big Fish (Comment 100) : So what are you saying? Ricky for scrumhalf or not?
@Big Fish (Comment 100) : Im not saying he never played well for the Boks, he was the hero in that win over the AB’s, we all know that.. He was great for us.. But the key word around is ‘was’.
Richard
I suppose who won’t agree on this one but I just can’t see how you can throw away a player with over 40 tests to his name and who has proved without a shadow of a doubt that he has BMT at test level!
Let’s move on shall we??
@wpw (Comment 103) : Fair enough WPW, lets move on..
GO RICKY !!! I stick to my guns !
@wpw (Comment 88) : At that stage Ricky’s form made him first choice.