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Manuel Zuliani has no doubt that it will be an equally difficult assignment when Italy face South Africa for the second test in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Zuliani scored Italy’s first ty in their 42-24 defeat in Pretoria. It didn’t spark a second half comeback, but it did imbue Gonzalo Quesada’s team with confidence and Pablo Dimcheff and Niccolo Cannone scored further tries.
Quesada has said that Italy has already achieved their main aim by beating Namibia 73-6, but the Azzurri do not want to let their standards drop after ‘winning’ the second half at Loftus Versfeld.
“We must continue to follow our system and our playing principles, because at times we deviated from the game plan, and this prevented us from being effective on certain occasions,” Zuliani said.
MAINTAINING STANDARDS
“We definitely carry with us the personality we showed on the pitch, never giving up, and fighting until the 80th minute. This must be our strength and the path we follow in the next match as well.
“We definitely need to improve on what we did in the first half, when we had little possession and only defended. If you spend 40 minutes holding off the opposition's attacks, sooner or later you're going to make mistakes. Ultimately, you don't win games by just defending.”
Cannone will again captain Italy, and Zuliani is joined in the backrow by Sebastian Negri and Ross Vintcent, both of who grew up in South Africa before pursuing a career in Europe.
The Azzurri squad holds 453 caps, and fullback Mirko Belloni, and reserves Dimcheff, David Odiase, and Matteo Canali are set to win their second caps.
Quesada has made five changes to his starting lineup, while Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made 15 changes to his matchday 23-man squad which contains 591 caps.
RUGBY CENTURION
Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Ethan Hooker and Cobus Wiese will make their Springbok debuts. Double World Cup winner Willie Le Roux is set to become rugby’s latest centurion and current World Rugby Men’s Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit returns.
“We showed great character, maturity, and unity, with a team full of rookies and players who hadn't played for the national team in a long time,” Zuliani said. “Even without the veterans, we showed we have a deep squad.
“At halftime, Gonza (Quesada) told us to be more courageous, to take control of the game, and not be intimidated by the fact that we were playing against top-ranked South Africa. We had to attack and not be attacked, and in the second half we showed we had the quality to do so.
“The important thing will be to put in another solid, team-based performance, fighting until the final minute.”
