Preview: South Africa v Italy

With the toughest obstacle on South Africa's incoming tour schedule comfortably seen off, the world champions welcome Italy next.

With the toughest obstacle on South Africa's incoming tour schedule comfortably seen off, the world champions welcome Italy next for their opening two-Test series clash on Saturday.

The hosts will be looking to follow up their impressive victory over France last weekend with another ruthless display in their first-ever Test at Puma Stadium in Witbank – an industrial town two hours' drive from Pretoria.

The decision by SA Rugby to allow FIFA to utilise their main stadiums has forced the Springboks to host this match in unfamiliar surroundings, but that shouldn't lengthen the odds on a comprehensive home victory.

South Africa's impressive run of form so far in 2010 has been nothing short of spectacular – the Boks scored a comfortable 42-17 win against the Six Nations Grand Slam champions on Saturday, after defeating Wales two weeks ago in Cardiff.

A stunning comeback win coupled with an absolute thrashing of respected opposition – each achieved with a vastly different run-on XV – bodes well for the men in green and gold's World Cup preparations next year.

South Africa's depth in key positions must be the envy of many teams and coach Peter de Villiers will be smiling behind that moustache of his knowing that he can field settled combinations, regardless of the player staff, in the future.

South African rugby is, indeed, blessed with immense talent at the moment and, for once, there is no debate about the make-up of it. De Villiers has picked wisely and fairly.

In a nutshell, while many would have expected a weaker side full of untested combinations, the Italian reception in Witbank might be as cold, dark and tough as the coal-mining fields in those parts of the Republic suggest.

And with the Tri-Nations just around the corner, the Azzurri will offer just the right amount of pressure for the defending champions to measure themselves before the southern hemisphere tournament kicks off.

The Italians were wooden-spoonists in the Six Nations once again this year, with their only victory coming against Scotland. In Nick Mallett, Italy have an astute coach as well as an excellent motivator and, although an away-series win might be a bit too much to ask for the visitors, they will no doubt make a good fist of it.

Under Mallett's guidance, the Azzurri may not have won many games (just two out of their last sixteen) but they've shown a remarkable improvement over the years – especially on defence – and have run several higher-ranked nations close.

The Italians are recognised as one of the best scrumming units on the international scene and Mallet has certainly made his intentions clear of targeting the Boks' scrum by selecting a front row of Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Salvatore Perugini, who have 167 Tests between them.

Whilst South Africa can expect a fierce onslaught from Italy up front, the most experienced lock pairing in world rugby – Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha – are back together in the engine room.

Matfield also takes over the captaincy reins as John Smit is ruled out with a hamstring strain. The Bok lock has plenty of experience as a captain having skippered the Bulls to three Super 14 titles and he notably led his country to an historic victory over New Zealand in Dunedin during the 2008 Tri-Nations.

Ones to watch:

For South Africa: Although Peter de Villiers has made 11 changes from the 22-man squad that faced France, the South Africans still have a host of potential match-winners. With centre pair Jaque Fourie and Wynand Olivier rested, replacements Jean de Villiers and Butch James have plenty of experience and will be keen to show their credentials for World Cup selection after stints in Europe.

For Italy: A boost for the Italians is the return of captain and number eight Sergio Parisse, who missed the entire Six Nations campaign because of injury. His inspirational leadership coupled with some outstanding skills will no doubt keep the Boks busy.

Head to head: The front row All eyes will be on loosehead prop Gurthro Steenkamp against Martin Castrogiovanni, widely acknowledged as one of the world's strongest scrummagers. Steenkamp was outscrummed by Castrogiovanni when the Springboks suffered an embarrassing loss against English club Leicester last year, but was a star in an impressive 42-17 win against Six Nations champions France in Cape Town last weekend.

Previous results:
2009: South Africa won 32-10 in Florence
2008: South Africa won 26-0 in Newlands, Cape Town
2001: South Africa won 54-26 in Genoa
2001: South Africa won 60-14 in Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
1999: South Africa won 101-0 in King's Park Stadium, Durban
1999: South Africa won 74-3 in Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
1997: South Africa won 62-31 in Bologna
1995: South Africa won 40-21 in Olympic Stadium, Rome

Prediction: Italy have not beaten their hosts in eight meetings, the most recent a 32-10 defeat in Udine last November. While Italy might be competitive in the scrums they are likely to be outgunned in almost every other area against a Bok side in dominant form. South Africa to win by twenty points.

The teams:

South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Butch James, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 François Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Bjorn Basson.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Valerio Bernabò, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Gonzalo Canale.

Date: Saturday, June 19
Venue: Puma Stadium, Witbank
Kick-off: 15:00 (13:00 GMT)
Weather forecast: Clear with a high of 13°C, dropping to 0°C and enough wind to take the windchill temperature down to -2°C.
Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Assistant referees: Keith Brown (New Zealand), David Changleng (Scotland)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

By Dave Morris