Springboks player ratings vs Italy | Nations Championship 2026

South Africa player ratings: The Springboks continued their unbeaten start to the Nations Championship with a 66-7 round four demolition of Italy in Turin on Saturday.

This was always a daunting task for an Italian outfit decimated by injuries, particularly as Rassie Erasmus named close to his full-strength side.

And so it proved to be, with the Boks enjoying one-way traffic from the first minute, with the backs barely needing to join in.

Truthfully, it was one of, if not the most dominant first-half performances between two tier-one nations of the professional era.

With a 45-0 lead at the break, Erasmus had freedom to do whatever he wanted in the second half, unveiling the Bomb Squad before 45 minutes had elapsed. A combination of South Africa taking their foot off the pedal and Italy upping their game made the second half more competitive, but the damage was already done. Here’s how the players rated:

15 Damian Willemse – 8
Such was the forward dominance in the match, Willemse had a fairly quiet start to the match. But he was astute to support a Jasper Wiese break to run in unopposed for the Boks’ fifth try. Not long after, a try-scoring pass to Kurt-Lee Arendse went off an Italian head to spurn a try – not a fault, but this was so easy for South Africa that we need to nit-pick to find any issues. Knocked a high ball on after the break, as the Boks appeared to relax slightly, with their errors increasing. Composed as ever, though.

14 Kurt-Lee Arendse – 7
Didn’t see a huge amount of action, but did everything right when he was needed – competing in the air and beating defenders when he had the chance. Knocked the ball on when linking with Siya Kolisi early in the second half as the Boks stuttered slightly after the break.

13 Jesse Kriel – 7
The first glimmer of positivity for Italy – Ange Capuozzi stepping and beating a couple of tacklers – was quickly extinguished by Kriel, who won a penalty over the ball. Made a surging run in the second half, which gave the platform for Wilco Louw to score.

12 Damian de Allende – 7
Frequently found himself on the receiving end of kick-offs and carrying into the heart of the Italian defence. Didn’t get a huge return on his carries, but was nevertheless pivotal to the Boks generating momentum, as he always is.

11 Ethan Hooker – 8.5
Insuperable in the air as ever, making it a bonus for Italy if they were able to gain possession following a South African box kick. Shifted into the midfield in the second half, where he saw more of the ball and got a well-deserved try at the death, powering through a beleaguered defence.

10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – 8.5
All pace and guile as he bisected the Italian defence with a dummy and raced in from 40 metres out for the opening try of the match inside the first 10 minutes. Almost flawless in the first half in all aspects: pinpoint from the tee and even added a 50:22, which set up South Africa’s fourth try through Kolisi. Knocked on a driven kick in the backfield in the final five seconds of the first half, which was the only mistake he, or indeed, South Africa made in the first 40. Shifted to full-back for much of the second half after Libbok’s introduction, but was called for an HIA after losing his first aerial contest.

9 Morne van den Berg – 8
Darted from close range for South Africa’s second try, acting quickly to get the better of two Italian defenders. Had an armchair ride behind a pack that obliterated Italy’s. Did nothing to suggest he won’t be the starting No.9 for the sterner tests that lie ahead.

1 Ox Nche – 5
Kept at bay in the scrum, with the Azzurri pack withstanding his pressure. There were two free-kicks from scrums, one to South Africa and one to Italy, but no penalties in the first half. He was then pinged early in the second half for not driving straight – the first scrum penalty of the match. That is perhaps the great irony of the contest – the one area the world champions did not massacre Italy was the scrum, typically their greatest strength. Removed after 45 minutes.

2 Malcolm Marx – 8
Scored his 30th Test try courtesy of an unstoppable South African maul. It was easy enough against eight Italian forwards, so it was borderline unfair against seven when Muhamed Hasa was yellow-carded in the first half. But Marx won’t complain, and he went over for his second try of the first half via another maul. Easy way to add to his try count during 45 minutes on the field.

3 Thomas du Toit – 6
Like Nche, couldn’t get the better of the Italian scrum, and was part of a pack that was driven backwards early in the second half. Very quiet in the loose, failing to make a carry and only producing two tackles in his 45-minute stint.

4 Lood de Jager – 7
A late replacement in the team, coming in for Salmaan Moerat. Pinged early on for a ‘knee drop’ tackle, which referees will now be stricter with. Produced a charge-down which laid the platform for the Boks’ fifth try. Got his hands on the ball during his 45-minute spell.

5 Ruan Nortje – 7
Not really a game where the hard graft of Nortje stood out, as South Africa rarely required any phases to score or do something meaningful, and were seldom put under any pressure whatsoever defensively.

6 Siya Kolisi – 7
Bagged South Africa’s fourth try as he was carried along in a driving maul where he barely needed to drive himself. In many ways, it summed up his match, where he wasn’t required to do a huge amount in his 45-minute cameo, although he was required to return on the hour mark.

7 Pieter-Steph du Toit – 7
Went about his business quietly, but like Nortje, this was a match that wasn’t crying out for his relentlessness. His defensive intensity was certainly not required as the Boks were seldom required to tackle a lot, but he still topped the tackle charts for the Boks with 13 tackles.

8 Jasper Wiese – 7.5
Broke the Italy line after 25 minutes in a very un-Wiese way – throwing a dummy, making an arcing run to glide through a gap before producing an inside pass for Willemse to score. It took until the final play of the first half for Italy to enter South Africa’s 22, and Wiese swiftly put an end to that, hitting a breakdown hard and then forcing a knock-on from Alessandro Fusco. Only managed five minutes after the break.

Replacements

16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels – 6
Added immediate energy around the field and ensured there was no drop in South Africa’s physicality at hooker. His lineout throwing wasn’t completely secure compared to Marx’s.

17 Gerhard Steenekamp – 8
Busy around the park after coming on, but was left in an awkward position being the widest defender for Italy’s try around the hour mark. Like the entire Bok pack, he was caught running one direction when he should have seen the space that was being left on the short side. Helped generate the first scrum penalty for the Boks in the final quarter and won another a few minutes later, ensuring the Boks ended the match on top in the scrum.

18 Wilco Louw – 8
Thrown into action late in the first half as a blood replacement and had one scrum, but, like his predecessor, couldn’t produce anything. Added plenty of weight and power in the second half, powering over for a try on 50 minutes, crashing and spinning through three attempted tackles.

19 Franco Mostert – 7
Slotted seamlessly into the second-row and immediately added authority at the lineout.

20 Cameron Hanekom – 7
Another lively cameo from the back-rower. Carried with real intent against a tiring defence and brought plenty of pace and aggression to South Africa’s loose play.

21 Paul de Villiers – 7.5
Only managed 15 minutes before being removed with a head injury, and then returned for the final 10 minutes, scoring within seconds following another irrepressible maul.

22 Grant Williams – 6
Raised the tempo as soon as he arrived, moving the ball quickly before being moved to the wing by Erasmus, where he couldn’t make a noticeable impact.

23 Manie Libbok – 6
Brought another layer of attacking threat in the second half, distributing sharply and keeping Italy stretched across the field. But the Boks did look slightly more disjointed as plenty of changes were made to the backline throughout the second half.