Springboks vs Italy: Revisiting the 2016 Florence Team Before Saturday’s Test
- The Springboks carry a 94.7% win rate into Saturday's Nations Championship clash against Italy in Turin, with kick-off set for 13:40 SA time
- South Africa's sole defeat in 19 Tests against Italy came in Florence in 2016, when a second-string squad captained by Adriaan Strauss took the field
- The line-up that day included several experienced names, with 510 Test caps among the starting XV alone
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The Springboks face Italy at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday, 7 November, in their next Nations Championship fixture, with kick-off scheduled for 13:40 SA time. The match will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
South Africa's record against the Azzurri stands among the most dominant in world rugby. In 19 Tests played since the two nations first met 31 years ago in Rome, the Springboks have won 18, recording a win percentage of 94.7%.
The One That Got Away: Florence, 2016
The single blemish on that record dates to 19 November 2016 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, where South Africa fell 20-18 to Italy. The squad selected that day was far from a first-choice combination, guided by coach Allister Coetzee and captained by hooker Adriaan Strauss. Despite carrying 510 Test caps across the starting XV and an additional 84 among the replacements, the side could not hold on for the win.
The starting line-up read: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
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The replacements named were: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Teboho Mohojo, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Johan Goosen.
South Africa's 18 points came from tries scored by Bryan Habana and Damian de Allende, a conversion and a penalty by Pat Lambie, and a further penalty from Elton Jantjies off the bench — but it was not enough.
A Dominant All-Time Record
Since that defeat, the Springboks have not dropped another Test against Italy. They returned to winning ways in 2017 with a 35-6 result in Padua and followed it with a 49-3 hammering at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
More recently, South Africa ran in 63 points against Italy in Genoa in November 2022, before winning both legs of a 2025 home series — 42-24 at Loftus Versfeld on 5 July and 45-0 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on 12 July — and then recording a 32-14 victory in Turin on 15 November 2025.
Saturday's fixture presents Rassie Erasmus's side with another opportunity to extend that streak at the same Turin venue where they claimed victory less than a year ago.
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Source: Briefly News
