Thursday 20 November 2014 16:29, UK
The Springboks have left London and have now landed in Italy to take on the Azzurri this weekend, and Benetton Treviso's South African-born captain Corniel van Zyl believes the Italians will ensure a close match when the two teams face off on Saturday.
After an emphatic loss to Ireland at the beginning of November, Heyneke Meyer’s men turned their November tour around with a good win against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
This weekend they face the prospect of an Italian team who appear to have exorcised the poor form that plagued them during the Six Nations by beating Samoa 24-13 before losing to Argentina in very close fashion the following week.
South Africa will do well to remember that rugby in Italy is on the up. Gone are the days of a generous victory in Italy and gone too are the days of a visiting rugby team arriving anonymously in the football-mad country.
Van Zyl, who plays for Italian club Benetton Treviso, says there has been a wealth of interest from the Italian public surrounding the arrival of the second-best team in the world.
“I was at the Springboks' training ground on Tuesday and when I arrived I could feel something in the air," said the Treviso captain. “There were a lot of people walking around, taking photos and asking for autographs.
“There were videos going around of the Springboks arriving at their hotel in Padova and people were actually singing for them.
“Italy is obviously more football-orientated but there are a lot of supporters in northern Italy – they love their rugby up here.”
While South Africa boast some of the stars of world rugby, including two of the player-of-the-year nominees in their matchday 23 in Duane Vermeulen and Willie le Roux, both teams are first and foremost known for their big forwards.
Where normally the South African pack will look to impose itself on the opposition forwards, they will have a real challenge on their hands in the form of a passionate Italian scrum. In particular the Italian back row is world class, and because of that van Zyl says he expects Italy to push South Africa right to the end.
“I think it will be a close game, I don’t think South Africa will necessarily run away with it," said the former Free State Cheetah.
“Italy did well in the first two games and I was very impressed with the way they managed those games and controlled things. They let it slip against Argentina but it could easily have gone the other way.
“They played better in those two games than they did in the Six Nations this year, and it will be tough against South Africa. But if they can build on that, then anything can happen.
“If South Africa play well in the first 20 minutes I think it will be a long day, but if Italy go out and perform well from the beginning – accurately controlling things – then it could be quite a close game.”
Van Zyl believes it has been the vital inclusion of Italian teams in the Pro12 and European Champions Cup that has helped Italy compete on the international stage.
“It changed the Italian set-up,” he said. “Before that, when they just played in an Italian league, the quality of the players was not that great. The professionalism and playing against top players and top teams every week just wasn’t there.
“Over the past five seasons we’ve started playing against those top teams and the experience of playing against quality opposition with that intensity spills over into the national side. In the past, the gap was just too big; the boys could stay in the game for the first 60 minutes but then teams would run them over.
“So it’s very important that Italy has these teams in the Pro12 and European Champions Cup because it directly influences the national side.”
Van Zyl and his team will be taking on Leinster in the Pro12 live on Sky Sports this Sunday, and the tight forward says preparations are well under way as they look to dismantle the defending champions at Stadio Monigo.
The Italians managed to secure a win in the opening exchange between these teams, but since then the results have gone the way of the Irishmen.
“They are a quality side; defending champions in the Pro12 and also recent champions of Europe,” said van Zyl.
“We’ve only beaten them once in the past, but we’ve had a few close games against them over the years.
“They also have a few guys coming back from injury so they’re going to be strong. They are always fired up when they get there, they know it will be tough – they’ve learned their lessons here in the past.
“It should be a good contest. We’re searching for our first win of the season, so our boys are looking to perform well. Hopefully we can do that and send them home without a win.”
