Match Italy 14 v South Africa 32 - 15/11/2025 - Quilter Nations Series

A chaotic first half—as much of the match would turn out to be—saw the score remain unchanged for over half an hour, with Italy showing excellent defensive organisation but lacking cutting edge despite having an extra man.

The first notable action came after six minutes, with a midfield break by centre Monty Ioane and a chip ahead for wing Ange Capuozzo to pressure the Springboks. However, fullback Damian Willemse covered well, and South Africa escaped thanks to a subsequent penalty to Ross Vintcent.

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In the 11th minute came the incident that changed the entire game: second row Franco Mostert tackled fly-half Paolo Garbisi dangerously without wrapping his arms. The video review was damning and resulted in a second red card in as many weeks—after Lood De Jager’s dismissal in Paris against France—leaving South Africa to play over an hour a man down and forcing an immediate rethink of their lineup.

Italy had the chance to take the lead, but Garbisi was not as accurate as in Udine last week, missing his first shot at goal. The Azzurri kept attacking with good runs from Capuozzo, Ioane, and wing Louis Lynagh but failed to capitalise.

Rassie Erasmus saw his side struggling—surprisingly in the scrum, where the Springboks even lost their own feed—and abandoned the idea of deploying the usual “bomb squad” later, instead introducing Ruan Nortje at lock along with Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenkamp up front after the first quarter.

Soon after came Andre Esterhuizen, a versatile player replacing Edwill van der Merwe among the backs but also slotting into the pack when the scrum became vital. Meanwhile, Garbisi confirmed his off day by missing a second, easier penalty. While South Africa continued to suffer in the scrum, they dominated the aerial battle, with captain Siya Kolisi and company winning every high ball, exploiting the physical mismatch against Capuozzo and Ioane and the slippery conditions caused by Turin’s humidity.

So, quite remarkably, it was South Africa who led at halftime, showing all the ruthlessness and efficiency of four-time world champions by scoring on their only two visits inside Italy’s 22 in the first 40 minutes.

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In the 32nd minute, Boks fly-half Handré Pollard landed a drop goal that was disallowed for obstruction by Louw on Nacho Brex, but he slotted the subsequent penalty awarded for an earlier Italian infringement. Italy responded fiercely, as they had at Bluenergy Stadium seven days earlier, regaining possession through Capuozzo on the restart but only managing three points from Garbisi under the posts.

At the stroke of half-time, an Italian scrum inside their own 22 seemed set to provide an easy clearance and a level scoreline, but instead turned into a free kick for South Africa, who pressed near the try line and eventually broke through with Marco Van Staden, giving Pollard a simple conversion for a 3–10 lead at the break.

Italy started the second half with great spirit, adding three more points through Garbisi. Erasmus even withdrew captain Kolisi to inject more physicality with RG Snyman, but an inspired Italy kept piling on the pressure. A Garbisi high kick followed by one from Lynagh allowed them to tackle Willemse into touch for a lineout near the South African try line, but once again they failed to finish, with a knock-on between Manuel Zuliani and Tommaso Menoncello.

Italy enjoyed their best spell and could have exploited a double numerical advantage (Van Staden having been sin-binned for a cynical foul), closing to within one point thanks to another Garbisi penalty. But South Africa hit back immediately through Pollard and then restored numerical parity when Lorenzo Cannone was shown a yellow card.

On the hour mark, the Springboks widened the gap. From a penalty, they opted for a five-meter scrum; the ball came out, and Morne Van Den Berg spotted the gap, powering past Menoncello and Ioane for their second try.

Italy kept believing and five minutes later scored their first try of the day, with Capuozzo cutting inside Garbisi and racing through to the line. The Toulon fly-half missed the conversion (Italy left eight points on the tee overall), leaving the score at 14–20.

In the closing stages, Italy’s energy faded, and South Africa took full advantage. After a poor clearance by Martin Page-Relo, Canan Moodie broke down the outside and fed replacement Grant Williams, who raced under the posts. In the final moments, the gap widened further with a fourth South African try, finished on the wing by Ethan Hooker after a pinpoint cross-kick from Manie Libbok, exploiting an offside advantage.

Libbok then took too long on the shot clock and failed to convert in time. Final score: 14–32—a result full of regret for a brave Italy lacking clinical edge against a South Africa that managed an extremely difficult situation superbly and closed the game out ruthlessly in the dying minutes.

⭐️ Quilter Player of the Match ⭐️

Damian Willemse (RSA)

"You've got to give it to the team: that's a full team effort. It really put us under pressure, but we came up with good solutions and plans. I'm here taking credit for Man of the Match, but that was a full team effort.

"Italy are a very all-core team and they showed that tonight. They put us under a lot of pressure on the ball, set-piece, on defence. They've got a good attack and then obviously the kicking game. But I tried my best and obviously the rest of the boys helped me."

(On being down to 14 mean and - at one point - 13 men) "We knew we had to show character and the boys did that. I was very proud of the team. We're going to look at this one for a long time, so I'm very happy."