South Africa’s Springboks continue their Northern Hemisphere international rugby tour this weekend, desperate to make it third time lucky in Europe as they tackle in-form Italy.
Elsewhere there’s an almighty clash between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, while Ireland host Australia in Dublin and Scotland meet Argentina.
France will take on Japan on Sunday, with Wales and Georgia completing Saturday’s fixture list at the Principality Stadium.
International Rugby: Italy vs South Africa – kick off 15.00 SAST
South Africa head to Italy for the third of four Northern Hemisphere international rugby tour fixtures on Saturday.
And they do so needing a win sharpish, following losses to both Ireland and France.
The Springboks pushed both leading nations close first in Dublin, then inside the cauldron that is the Stade Velodrome in Marseille last Saturday night, with refereeing controversy vying for primacy with the Boks’ own shortcomings in the minds of fans.
Rassie Erasmus has added to the sideshow once again, too, with a string of video posts on Twitter taking a not-so-subtle swipe at referee Wayne Barnes and his fellow match officials.
A collective gulp will also have greeted the news of the Azzurri’s one-point win over Australia last weekend, where the men in blue clung on for a famous success over the Wallabies.
Coach Jacques Nienaber includes four fresh faces for the trip to Genoa.
Salman Moerat and Marvin Orie combine in the locks, with Eben Etzebeth poised to make his customary impact on the game from the replacements’ bench, while Jasper Wiese returns at eighth man.
The Pieter-Steph du Toit-shaped hole at flank will be filled, then, by Franco Mostert, as the former sits out following his red card early on in Marseille.
A switch in the centres also sees Andre Esterhuizen come in, as Damian de Allende shifts to the number 13 jersey.
The Italians make a pair of front row changes to go toe-to-toe with the Boks, as Pietro Ceccarelli and hooker Giacomo Nicotera enter the fray at prop and hooker respectively.
Italy Starting XV: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan 9 Stephen Varney; 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Tommaso Menoncello.
South Africa Starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.
Rugby predictions for fixtures on 19 – 20 November 2022
All eyes are on Twickenham on Saturday afternoon, as England and New Zealand replicate their Rugby World Cup semi-final in London.
The heavyweight pair collide in the day’s penultimate match, before Ireland’s Dublin duel with Australia and after the intriguing contest between Scotland and Argentina, who already have the scalp of the English on this tour.
Sunday pits France against Japan in Toulouse, fresh from victory over the Boks, while Wales wrap up Saturday’s fixtures when they welcome Georgia to Cardiff.
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing. Score margins use the methodology developed by Rugby Vision.
| Chance of winning (%) | Points margin | |
| Italy | 5,5 | |
| South Africa | 94,5 | 23 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Points margin | |
| Wales | 95,8 | 26 |
| Georgia | 4,2 | |
| Chance of winning (%) | Points margin | |
| Scotland | 71,6 | 8 |
| Argentina | 28,4 | |
| Chance of winning (%) | Points margin | |
| England | 35,9 | |
| New Zealand | 64,1 | 5 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Points margin | |
| Ireland | 89,3 | 18 |
| Australia | 10,7 | |
| Chance of winning (%) | Points margin | |
| France | 95,1 | 24 |
| Japan | 4,9 |