They had a solid 28-3 lead at the break, but things were not as fluent and effective in the second half for the hosts, with the tourists refusing to throw in the towel, despite being outplayed for most of the match.
The Boks can look back at their first half performance with satisfaction. Their scrum had early dominance, much to the delight of the 42,632 Loftus crowd who got what they came for, witnessing Bok excellence against all comers on home soil.
Jesse Kriel, in his first Test as a Springbok captain, had the crowd on their feet early on, scoring in the corner in front of the East Stand after a delightful Damian de Allende grubber opened up the visitors. Referee Hollie Davidson had a TMO check, but the try was good and when Pollard kicked the conversion, the Boks had a well-deserved 7-0 lead 13 minutes in.
Some delightful passing and interplay had the Italians in trouble again shortly after, but a rare handling error robbed the Boks of a second try.
The Boks were relentless on attack and the Italians had little option than to try and slow the ball down, legal or not. Davidson decided not and flanker Manuel Zuliani was sin-binned.
From the resulting penalty, the Boks opted for a scrum and Morne van den Berg could use his pack's powerful forward momentum to dot down for his first Test try. Pollard's conversion pushed the lead to 14-0 after 24 minutes.
Jesse Kriel goes over for the first try of the Test.
The Boks were doing most things right in the opening quarter and not conceding any penalties was one, but no one is perfect and after a rare error of judgement on defence, they were pinged and flyhalf Giacomo Da Re kicked a penalty goal to get the Italians on the board 25 minutes in.
The Bok reply was immediate and brutal. From lineout, Kurt-Lee Arendse stepped his way past a couple of hapless defenders and with Pollard on the money again, the lead was 21-3 after 30 minutes of highly entertaining rugby.
The Arendse try was yet another attacking play that would have defence coaches around the world worried, as the Boks cleverly handed the flying wing some space and he exploited that to the maximum for a wonderful try and case study of elusive running.
Van den Berg scored a second just before the break, again off the back of a powerful Bok scrum. With Italy going backwards, he sniped around the scrum to score under the poles, giving Pollard an easy angle to add two more points. The 28-3 scoreline was also the halftime score.
The second half seemingly continued in the same green and gold vein. One poor kick by Italy was ruthlessly exposed, with first Damian Willemse and Arendse ghosted past opponents and Vincent Tshituka scored, but the try was cancelled after some obstruction was picked up by the TMO.
Instead, from the resulting penalty, the Italians kicked to the corner and attacked hard and with real purpose. A dozen pick and drives later and Zuliani found his way over the line. The conversion was good and 47 minutes in, the Boks’ lead was cut to 18 points.
Kurt-Lee Arendse scored a stunning try from a lineout play.
That prompted the introduction of the Bomb Squad with five forwards being replaced at once and a couple of minutes later, Faf de Klerk and Kwagga Smith joined the fun.
The result was fairly predictable, and Vincent Koch crashed over after a couple of good pick-and-go’s by the Boks. It was his first try for South Africa in his 62nd Test.
Credit to Italy though, who came to play on a wonderful night of rugby. They outworked the Bok defence on the right and Simone Gesi went over in the corner, only to be denied by a brilliant Arendse cover tackle.
Willie le Roux was the last replacement of the evening, earning his 99th cap, but he could only watch from a distance and the Italian pack got the better of their Bok foes from a lineout. They kept their structure and Pablo Dimcheff, the replacement hooker, dotted down. The conversion was good and after an hour the Boks led was 35-17.
The Boks were not as clinical as earlier in the game and lost a bit of structure as well, while Italy certainly played their best rugby in the first 20 minutes of the second half. They had more reward soon after when lock and captain Niccolo Cannone found himself in the right place at the right time, following a turnover concede by the Boks near their own line. The converted try suddenly had the SA lead cut back to 11 points with as many minutes left.
That woke the Boks up and Marco van Staden extended the lead again when he crashed over from close range. The Boks kept their charging near the rucks and every time sucked more and more Italians in to defend before the flanker exploited a hole in the defensive wall to score. Pollard converted and the lead looked more respectable at 42-24.
The last couple of minutes were frantic and exciting, but the Boks held out for a win that will make sure the stadium will be packed next time again.
Scorers:
Springboks 42 (28) – Tries: Jesse Kriel, Morne van den Berg (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Vincent Koch, Marco van Staden. Conversions: Handre Pollard (6).
Italy 24 (3) – Tries: Manual Zuliani, Pablo Dimcheff, Niccolo Cannone. Conversions: Giacomo De Re (3). Penalty goal: De Re.
