The Springboks won their first match of the European tour with a 32-10 victory over Italy in Udine.

Coming off a convincing defeat to France, the Bok first XV achieved their goal as they gained a confidence-boosting win, but it wasn’t as easy as the scoreboard suggests, as Italian goal-kicking let the hosts down and they were in the contest until the hour-mark.

The Boks went to a 12-0 lead after as many minutes, but for the remainder of the half they weren’t convincing.  They opened the scoring through Bryan Habana after Morne Steyn had earlier missed a penalty in front of the posts. Danie Rossouw and Jaque Fourie carried strongly in the build-up, while Ryan Kankowski showed his running ability in the wider channels as the Bok No 8 beat a defender and offloaded to the Bok winger.

The Boks fielded a new loose trio of Heinrich Brussow, Rossouw and Kankowsi, and this try showed they could be a successful one if used correctly. However, Kankowski faded and was subbed for Jean Deysel after 50 minutes. Kankowski looks unlikely to start at Croke Park next weekend while Deysel showed his value at the breakdown and in contact.

Habana was prominent along with Brussow in the build-up to the second try after 12 minutes. Fourie continued his brilliant try-scoring run as the Boks capitalised on a poor kick from the Azzurri, with Zane Kirchner sparking the move.

For the rest of the half however, the Italians had total control.

The Boks had never lost to Italy, but the Italian scrum was seen as their main weapon if they were going to break the drought. Martin Castrogiovanni had dominated Gurthro Steenkamp in Leicester, and he had another chance to do that against debutant Wian du Preez. However, Castrogiovanni had to wait nearly 20 minutes for the first scrum.

The first set-piece on Bok ball was solid, but a minute later they lost concentration and were driven backwards, and were penalised for the first time.

The Bok lineout was competent on their own ball, but with Victor Matfield rested, Andries Bekker had an opportunity to show his worth. The Boks stole one ball early, but failed to exert any pressure for the rest of the half.

The Boks had to endure some hairy moments, and were lucky to retain their lead. They were found wanting around the fringes as the Italians used the pick and drive, while the Boks also fell off tackles just like they did in Toulouse, with Sergio Parisse the dominant Italian runner.

Eventually the sustained pressure told when Gonzalo Garcia produced a scything break through the Bok midfield. The Italian centre benefited from poor communication from the visitors as Adi Jacobs drifted out of his channel. This will be a real area of concern with the Boks facing Brian O’Driscoll and co next Saturday.

The Boks looked panicked, and some shaky passes and poor handling from Habana gifted the Italians an opportunity to narrow the lead. However, Luke McLean missed the Italians’ second easy penalty, and those six points would have seen them hold a one-point lead. Just before the break Steyn also missed another chance after brilliant work from Brussow at the breakdown, and the Boks went into the break with a 12-7 lead.

Steyn extended the lead five minutes into the half, but the Italians continued to use their scrum dominance to create point-scoring chances. McLean missed another penalty, but the marker had been set.

The Boks were mauled up-front, but the Italian tactical kicking provided another opportunity for a Bok counter. Rossouw produced a brilliant pass to Fourie, and Habana offloaded to Fourie du Preez as the Boks went well clear at 22-7. Du Preez then also broke off the back of a lineout to hand Wynand Olivier his first Test try.

The South Africans got back onto the winning trail, but there were many areas of concern, such as the scrum and their ball control in contact. Notably, the Bok scrum dominated in the final quarter and the front three that ended the match of Beast Mtawarira, BJ Botha and John Smit at hooker looked the most solid unit.

By Grant Ball

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Live Reports, Springboks, Year End Tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.