The Springboks had to do it with 14 men for a second consecutive Test as they beat Italy in Turin on Saturday.
The Boks ran in four tries for a 32-14 win to stay unbeaten on their year-end tour.
The match took a significant turn after 11 minutes when Springbok lock Franco Mostert was shown a straight red card after a tackle on Italy flyhalf Paolo Garbisi that referee James Doleman adjudged to have been dangerous.
🟥 Franco Mostert’s red card.
Insane decision. #ITAvRSA pic.twitter.com/PskZt8S2hu
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) November 15, 2025
Coach Rassie Erasmus then made changes at regular intervals in a bid to mitigate the red card and give the Boks parity at the scrums after they had conceded free kicks and penalties at the set-piece. The substitutions also robbed South Africa of any fluency in their overall game.
Remarkably, the Test remained scoreless for 33 minutes before Handre Pollard slotted a penalty to give the Boks the lead. But those three points were cancelled out just four minutes later when Garbisi stroked one through the uprights after missing two previous attempts.
On the stroke of half-time, the Boks scored the first try of the match – courtesy of No 8 Marco van Staden who crashed over under the crossbar. Pollard made no mistake with the conversion and the teams turned to the sheds with the Boks seven points to the good.
The Italians looked motivated as the second half got underway as they looked to make their numerical advantage count. It took just three minutes for Garbisi to slot over another penalty to reduce the Azzurri’s deficit.
It went from bad to worse for the Boks as they lost Van Staden to a yellow card for cynical play at the breakdown. Garbisi’s resultant penalty goal brought Italy to within a point.
But Pollard’s second penalty of the match, extended the lead to four points once again just three minutes later.
The Test then sprung into life in the final quarter as both teams kept ball in hand a bit more. Bok scrumhalf Morné van den Berg dived over the line after a dominant scrum from the South Africans. Pollard was once again accurate with the conversion.
The Springbok scrumhalves always get in on the action 🤌
Morné van den Berg is over the line
Stream #QuilterNS on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw@picknpayasap pic.twitter.com/ioBHRmUpek
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 15, 2025
But just five minutes later, some individual brilliance from Italy fullback Ange Capuozzo gave the Azzurri their first try of the match. Garbisi, however, missed the conversion – his third miss of the afternoon.
Eight minutes from full-time, centre Canan Moodie beat his man around the outside and fed a supporting Grant Williams with a pin-point inside pass to take the game beyond the Italians. Replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok was successful with the conversion.
The Boks then had the final say as centre Ethan Hooker crashed over for his first Test try after another a trademark Libbok cross-kick.
Ethan Hooker scoring out wide with less than two minutes left on the clock to seal the Springboks win over Italy
#Breitling #DefiningMoment @Breitling pic.twitter.com/h5GzMTs7vb
— Quilter Nations Series (@QuilterNations) November 15, 2025
The Boks next travel to Dublin, where they’ll face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
Photo: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images
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