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Six Nations statement: Tom Curry 'Tunnelgate' incident
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South Africa made work for win over Italy at Loftus
By Ian Cameron
Rassie Erasmus’ South Africa picked up their second win of the 2025 Test season with a 42–24 win over a depleted Italy side in Pretoria.
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The scoreboard did not represent the at times scrappy performance at Loftus Versfeld from the reigning world champions.
The home side never really looked in danger of losing. With that said, the Boks lacked cohesion for long stretches, particularly after the break, with Gonzalo Quesada’s side capitalising on South Africa’s ill-discipline to score three second-half tries and briefly threaten a comeback.
The Springboks had established a commanding 28–3 lead at the interval with first-half tries from Jesse Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse and a brace from scrum-half Morne van den Berg.
Italy – playing with three debutants from the bench and captained for the first time by Niccolò Cannone – struggled for territory early on and were punished during Lorenzo Cannone’s 10-minute spell in the sin bin.
Despite the early setbacks, Italy grew into the game. Manuel Zuliani’s score five minutes after the restart was followed by tries from Luca Dimcheff—who crossed moments after winning his first cap—and captain Cannone, whose effort on 68 minutes reduced the gap to 35–24.
South Africa’s discipline and intensity had clearly dipped, and only Marco van Staden’s late try settled matters.
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There were strong performances from the Springboks’ front row, with Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw laying a solid platform early on, while Arendse showed his class with a sharp finish and a try-saving tackle.
However, the much-vaunted Bomb Squad struggled to add impact off the bench, and the breakdown in particular became an area of concern, with South Africa conceding two tries from turnover ball in the second half.
The two teams will meet again next Saturday in Port Elizabeth in the Azzurri’s final match of the season.