WAKE-UP CALL

THE Springboks were given a groot skrik in their 42-24 opening Test win against Italy at Loftus after the visitors outplayed and outscored the South Africans in a disappointing second-half performance.

Although SA scored six tries against a weakened Italian team, the Azzurri gave them a rude awakening that they are not as swak as the Boks thought after scoring three tries of their own to outscore the home team 21-14 in the tweede helfte.  

This after the world champion hosts made a gevaarlike start and forced the Azzurri to make more than 120 tackles in the first 40 minutes.

All that pressure saw captain Jesse Kriel open the scoring after chasing a kick through by Damian de Allende to dot down for a 7-0 lead.

A powerful Bok scrum five metres from the line then saw scrumhalf Morne van den Berg score under the poles as SA went 14-0 up.

Azzurri flyhalf Giacomo Da Re then kicked a 25th-minute penalty to break the visiting team’s duck before the Boks extended their lead when wing Kurt-Lee Arendse ran a neat line before stepping two defenders and scoring to lead to 21-3 after 30 minutes.

The powerful Bok scrum did the damage again before the break as Van den Berg sniped and accelerated past a few would-be Azzurri defenders for his second score onder die pale.

SA then started the second half as they ended the first, as “Bomb Squad” replacement prop Vincent Koch dove over from close range.

The Boks’ foot was firmly on the neck of the Azzurri, but after a disallowed try for debutant Vincent Tshituka after a stunning Damian Willemse break got blown up for obstruction, Italy lifted their levels.

Manuel Zuliani, Pablo Dimcheff and Nicollo Cannone all dotted down in quick succession to cut the Boks’ lead to 11 points.

The three consecutive tries – one from a powerful maul that saw the Boks pushed back ’n hele 20 metres – woke the Bokke up as Marco van Staden crossed for Mzansi’s sixth five-pointer and spared them some blushes in the second half in Pretoria.