Salmaan Moerat: Springboks will fight fire with fire in second Test against Italy

The Springboks have a clearer picture of what to expect from Italy on Saturday, and there has been a strong focus on their breakdown and rolling mauls ahead of the second Test.

After their struggles in the second half against the Azzurri, the world champions want to deliver an improved performance in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (5.10 pm kick-off) to seal the series victory.

While the physicality and kicking game of the Italians might have caught them a bit unawares in the six-try 42-24 victory at Loftus Versfeld, Bok captain Salmaan Moerat is confident that they’ve prepared adequately for what awaits them.

They realise the magnitude of the task ahead and Moerat has emphasised that they must front up if they want to complete a second victory. He’s also highlighted the strong kicking game of Italy that could pose a threat.

With a much-changed side, the Springboks won’t come into the game with a lot of continuity, but they possess some special players who will look to set the stadium alight with their electric plays. Having faced their opponents, the South Africans also know a little more about the new Italian players.

“It does help that we’ve played them the previous week, you get a bit of a feel of what they do and what their plans are,” Moerat said about the Italians and what they could bring.

“They shocked us a bit at the breakdown, but all teams have an identity, and they pride themselves on their physicality. Their breakdown play was good, and they disrupted us there. That is one area we worked on hard (this week), and we will look to counter it. They also have an excellent kicking game. I am fairly confident that our back-three can match that.

“I would not say we underestimated them. They are a quality side if you look at the makeup of the team. It is a majority of Zebre and Benetton players. That means they are in sync, and they know each other well. There are quality game-breakers, powerful forwards and we are expecting more of the same in this game.

“We must match fire with fire.”

Fullback Willie le Roux will be playing in his 100th Test for the Springboks, while newcomers prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye, centre Ethan Hooker and utility forward Cobus Wiese are all in line to make their debut off the bench.

Le Roux is in an exciting back-three with another veteran, Makazole Mapimpi and Edwill van der Merwe, who is making his home debut for the Boks. All eyes will be on the halfback pairing of Grant Williams and flyhalf Manie Libbok, though. They will be tasked to spark the attack to give the back-three and centres André Esterhuizen and Canan Moodie space with the ball in hand.

Should the forwards generate that dominance up front, it could become a long day in Gqeberha for the visitors.

The Springboks will look to start off the match in the same fashion as last weekend, where they generated a 28-3 lead, before taking their foot off the accelerator. According to Moerat, they do not want to fall into that same trap again.

The South Africans also want to set the record straight in the lineouts.

“Those we lost came down to our standards,” Moerat said about the set piece.

“We won’t change much, but we weren’t happy with our standards when it came to our throwing and lifting. We looked hard at what we can improve on.

“As a Springbok pack, we pride ourselves on the lineouts, scrums and rolling mauls. It was tough for us to see, but we will look to rectify it. It is tough for any team to concede a maul try, but tougher as a Springbok. The outside opinion, when looking at mauls, is that you expect the side to be dominant in attacking or stopping them. That was hard on us as a pack of forwards.”