A near-perfect first-half performance from South Africa paved the way for a resounding Nations Championship victory over Italy in Turin on Saturday.

The Springboks scored 45 unanswered points in the opening 40 minutes, before a somewhat messy second stanza saw them run out 66-7 winners.

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Retained top spot

In doing so, the Springboks remained top of the Southern Hemisphere standings, and also kept their No 1 World Rugby ranking.

The Springboks scored nine tries through hooker Malcolm Marx (2), flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, scrumhalf Morne van den Berg, flank Siya Kolisi, fullback Damian Willemse, wing Ethan Hooker and replacements, front-rower Wilco Louw and loose forward Paul de Villiers.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu added all nine conversions as well as a penalty for a personal haul of 26 points.

Italy replied with a try by lock Federico Ruzza and a conversion by replacement back Tommaso Allan.

The victory was South Africa’s 19th in 20 Tests against Italy. Their lone defeat came in 2016 in Florence.

The Springboks will next face France at the Stade de France in Paris on Friday, 13 November at 22:10 (SA time).

Teams

Italy

15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (captain), 1 Muhamed Hasa

Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Tommaso Allan

South Africa

15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: James Doleman (New Zealand), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)

South Africa vs Italy results

DateResultVenue12 Nov 1995Won 40-21Olympic Stadium, Rome8 Nov 1997Won 62-31Dall’Ara Stadium, Bologna12 June 1999Won 74-3Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth19 June 1999Won 101-0Kings Park, Durban30 June 2001Won 60-14Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth17 Nov 2001Won 54-26Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Genoa21 June 2008Won 26-0Newlands, Cape Town21 Nov 2009Won 32-10Stadio Friuli, Udine19 June 2010Won 29-13Puma Stadium, Witbank26 June 2010Won 55-11Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London8 June 2013Won: 44-10Kings Park, Durban22 Nov 2014Won 22-6Stadio Euganeo, Padua19 Nov 2016Lost 20-18Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence25 Nov 2017Won 35-6Stadio Euganeo, Padua4 Oct 2019Won 49-3Shizuoka Stadium, Fukuroi19 Nov 2022Won 63-21Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Genoa5 July 2025Won 42-24Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria12 July 2025Won 45-0Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth15 Nov 2025Won 32-14Juventus Stadium, Turin7 Nov 2026Won 59-7Allianz Stadium, Turin