South Africa’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup will be on the line when they take on Italy on Friday, as the Springboks cannot afford to slip up in Shizuoka.
Just six days on from the shock of Shizuoka as Japan beat Ireland, a similar upset would see Italy move secure their place in the last eight and dump South Africa all but out of the competition in the process.
However, the Springboks go into the match as heavy favourites to win, and should they do so with a bonus point, they will get themselves on level terms with Italy at the top of Pool B.
After thrashing Namibia 57-3, South Africa look to have dusted themselves down from the opening defeat by New Zealand and are back up and running in Japan, with their final match of the pool seeing them take on Canada next week.
But they do have the controversy surrounding Eben Etzebeth lingering over their heads, with the lock currently under investigation for allegedly assaulting and racially abusing a person before the tournament got underway. Captain Siya Kollisi has said that the controversy has not been a distraction in the lead up to the match, but only time will tell if that really is the case.
Here’s everything you need to know about the match.
When is it?
South Africa vs Italy takes place on Friday 4 October at the Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa.
When does it start?
The match kicks off at 6:45pm Japan Standard Time, which is 10:45am BST.
Where can I watch it?
Live coverage of the match will be shown on ITV 4 and the ITV Hub from 10:15am BST.
Teams
South Africa: Le Roux; Kolbe, Am, De Allende, Mapimpi; Pollard, De Klerk; Mtawarira, Mbonambi, Malherbe; Etzebeth, De Jager; Kolisi, Du Toit, Vermeulen.
Replacements: Marx, Kitschoff, Koch, Snyman, Mostert, Louw, Jantjies, Steyn.
Italy: Minozzi; Benvenuti, Morisi, Hayward, Campagnaro; Allan, Tebaldi; Lovotti, Bigi, Ferrari; Sisi, Budd; Steyn, Polledri, Parisse.
Replacements: Zani, Quaglio, Riccioni, Zanni, Ruzza, Negro, Braley, Canna.
Odds
South Africa to win: 1/25
Italy to win: 25/1
Draw: 80/1
Prediction
South Africa 35-10 Italy: Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus has made a few changes from what is normally considered his strongest line-up, but they should still be too powerful for Italy to take anything out of the game. That said, Italy have had plenty of time to prepare for the match, and could benefit from having faced the two easier teams in the pool already.
