Trending 
South Africa overcame an early red card to secure a 32-14 victory over Italy on Saturday, once again prevailing despite playing the majority of the match a man down—echoing their hard-fought win over France the previous weekend.
Tries from Marco van Staden, Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams and Ethan Hooker, combined with Handré Pollard’s contributions from the tee, carried the world champions through a rain-soaked contest at the Allianz Stadium in northern Italy.
The dreary weather and a competing draw at the ATP Finals, where Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were vying for a place in the final, left large sections of the stands empty.
Those who did attend witnessed a surprisingly competitive match in which South Africa were reduced to 14 men after just 11 minutes.
Franco Mostert was dismissed following a lengthy TMO review for a dangerous shoulder-led challenge on Paolo Garbisi.
It marked the second straight fixture in which Rassie Erasmus’ side made life difficult for themselves with disciplinary lapses, yet their heavily rotated line-up—featuring 11 changes from last week’s starting XV—still managed to impose itself when it mattered.
South Africa will now turn their attention to a highly anticipated meeting with Ireland in Dublin as their northern hemisphere tour continues.
Italy, meanwhile, look ahead to their final autumn international against Chile in Genoa, buoyed by signs of improvement under coach Gonzalo Quesada after defeating Australia earlier in the series and producing a spirited, if erratic, display against the Springboks.
Italy applied early pressure and tried repeatedly to exploit space behind the South African defence with grubber kicks but could not take advantage, with Garbisi uncharacteristically missing two kickable penalties.
Pollard eventually opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a penalty, and although Garbisi replied shortly after, the Springboks edged ahead 10-3 at the break when a forceful maul allowed Van Staden to touch down under the posts. Pollard’s conversion gave them a seven-point cushion at half-time.
Garbisi narrowed the deficit with two penalties early in the second half, the second coming after Van Staden was sin-binned for a ruck infringement, leaving South Africa briefly down to 13 men.
However, Italy squandered the numerical advantage when Lorenzo Cannone was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.
Pollard restored a four-point lead before Van den Berg darted through from a breakdown just before the hour mark to put the visitors in a more comfortable position.
Italy were not finished, and Ange Capuozzo reignited hope after latching onto Garbisi’s well-timed pass and racing over for a converted try.
The home crowd rallied, but South Africa responded emphatically. Williams crossed in the 71st minute at the end of a sweeping move sparked by Canan Moodie’s surging run down the left.
In the closing stages, Manie Libbok’s probing kick located Hooker, who claimed his first international try and sealed a scoreline that arguably overstated the Springboks’ control of the match.
