In the wind-whipped coliseum of Gqeberha, the Springboks unleashed a thunderstorm of muscle and mastery on Italy, sealing a 45-0 shutout that rang like a cannon blast across the rugby world. It was a dominant display not just of brute force, but of tactical wizardry—an emphatic statement of intent from a side still tinkering with its blueprint ahead of a long campaign.
Rassie Erasmus, South Africa’s grand puppeteer in green and gold, emerged from the battlefield “fairly happy,” his tone measured but quietly pleased. Like a blacksmith appraising the strength of a newly forged sword, Erasmus acknowledged both the gleam and the grit of his side’s performance.
“To keep them to nil with 13 players on the field was pretty cool,” he said, understated as ever.
“In two games it’s 87-24 for us in this series and 13 tries to three, and they were a team that pushed Ireland very close. So, we’re very happy.”
Indeed, this was no ordinary victory. Seven tries without reply—scored while navigating the choppy waters of a red card and yellow—spoke to a team that refused to abandon ship. Jasper Wiese’s early exit for a headbutt forced the Boks into stormy seas with 14 men for nearly an hour, and for ten of those, they rowed with only 13 after prop Wilco Louw was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.
Yet somehow, they steered the vessel true, shackling Italy’s attack like a rogue wave meeting a granite cliff.
“We had seven men against eight men in the scrum from there on,” Erasmus explained, noting the tactical shuffle that brought Ox Nche on early.
“We felt that we needed a specialist loosehead while Thomas [du Toit] is more of a tighthead these days.”
The match had the flair of a magician’s hat. There were cheeky short kickoffs designed to draw scrums, and lineout sleight-of-hand pulled straight from a Paul Roos B-team playbook—lifting players in open field to conjure mauls out of thin air.
Brilliant , love it . A maul in phase play & a try 👏👏👏 #RSAvITA #Springboks pic.twitter.com/A0TMKqA7fM
— Brett Igoe (@brettruganalyst) July 12, 2025
“We tried a few things,” Erasmus chuckled
“Sometimes those things work and sometimes they don’t, and you have to take it on the chin if they don’t work. We won’t be able to do them again for a few games as people have seen them now.”
This was Springbok rugby in experimental mode—test tubes bubbling, formulas fizzing. But within the theatre of innovation, there remained the unrelenting power game: that age-old Bok tradition of hammering opponents until the breath left their lungs. Even down a man, the green-and-gold pack bristled like a pride of lions guarding a kill.
And then, there was the heartbreak—the emotional subplot to this bruising spectacle. Wiese, ferocious and fiery, was denied the chance to share the field with his brother Cobus. Erasmus, ever the diplomat and father figure, offered support but stayed clear of judicial speculation.
Jasper Wiese was red carded after 22 minutes for a head butt. Pic; Twiiter/X
“It’s sad, he’s not a guy that goes out there to do those kinds of things,” he said.
“But I don’t want to say anything here that can make it better or worse because I’m not 100 percent sure what is the best way to take it forward.”
In the broader context of the season, this was another brushstroke on the canvas Erasmus is painting.
Following the 42-24 win at Loftus and the 50-point splash in the Barbarians match, the Boks’ tally reads like a crescendo building toward something greater.
“The Barbarian game we didn’t concede a lot of points in a tough rainy game there – we got a 50 there, we got 42 last week and 45 here and only conceded 24 points against Italy,” Erasmus said.
“Hopefully after the Georgia game a lot of the guys will have had two caps, and we can pick a nice settled, balanced team for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.”
The final dress rehearsal awaits in against Georgia in Mbombela next weekend. The orchestra is almost in tune, the tempo rising.
And if this Gqeberha whitewash is anything to go by, the Springboks are sharpening not just their teeth, but their imagination.
Because when the Boks start to play with fire—and still keep a clean sheet—you know the furnace is only just getting started.
Scorers:
Springboks 45 (24) – Tries: Grant Williams, Edwill van der Merwe (2), Canan Moodie, Malcolm Marx, Makazole Mapimpi, Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Conversions: Manie Libbok (5).
Italy 0
