Azzurri hunt another victory against wounded Springboks

The wounded Boks will be on the hunt for their first win of the campaign when they face off against the Italians at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella on Saturday afternoon.

Last weekend, the Boks recorded their second loss from as many outings when the failed to prevail over the French in Marseille:

Meanwhile, it was an historic weekend for the Azzurri who managed to stick one the Wallabies for the first time ever:

It has been a while since the teams locked horns and, on that occasion, it was a thumping victory for South Africa in Japan en route to World Cup glory:

Jasper Wiese (No 8) returns to a Springbok starting lineup which features new lock and centre pairings for Saturday’s third Outgoing Tour match against Italy in Genoa, as coach Jacques Nienaber made four changes and two positional switches for the Test.

Wiese was a late withdrawal from the match against France in Marseille last week and will take over from Kwagga Smith, who will start among the replacements.

Nienaber also handed starts to locks Salmaan Moerat and Marin Orie with Lood de Jager having returned home with a shoulder injury and Eben Etzebeth dropping to the bench.

Andre Esterhuizen comes in at inside centre in a new-look midfield pairing with Damian de Allende, who switches to outside centre in place of Jesse Kriel.

The other positional switch sees Franco Mostert move from lock to flanker in place of Pieter-Steph du Toit, who is awaiting a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday for a red card received against France for cleaning out a ruck dangerously.

No 8 Evan Roos, meanwhile, will feature on the replacements bench alongside forwards Etzebeth, Smith, and the front row of Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch (both props) and Malcolm Marx (hooker) in a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench.

Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf) and Manie Libbok (utility back), in turn, will provide backline cover, with Libbok able to cover flyhalf, centre, wing and fullback.

Italy boss Kieran Crowley has made two changes to the side which downed the Australia last week – both in the front row - with prop Pietro Ceccarelli and hooker Giacomo Nicotera the two newcomers.

"We achieved a historic result against Australia, but we are not satisfied," Crowley said. "The following day the focus was immediately shifted to South Africa. It will be a very intense match from a physical point of view.

"We have studied our opponents and prepared our engagement in the best possible way. We continue on this path proving to be competitive in every game."