It took one half at Loftus to bring some sobering reality to the outlook for a Springbok team that had started to take on the hue of invincibility among its supporters, and the feeling should have been the same regardless of whether you were taking the long view or the short view.
The short view first: after the Boks’ comprehensive though flawed and less convincing win over Italy in the first test of the new international season there are five games to be played before the seismic rugby event of the year - the Boks against the All Blacks in Auckland.
The Boks grind their way to victory at Loftus 🇿🇦💥#SSRugby | #RSAvITA pic.twitter.com/AvssbJSuad
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 5, 2025
The Kiwis haven’t lost at their most formidable fortress since 1994, meaning 31 years, and beating the All Blacks there is one frontier that the all-conquering Boks still have to cross. If there was any confidence around the Bok chances, and there should be if you consider they haven’t lost to New Zealand since before the 2023 Rugby World Cup, that would have been eroded in the second half at Loftus.
Even when the Boks led 28-3 at halftime, and looked like they were on the road to the more than 30 point win most pundits were expecting, there were issues. The lineout wasn’t functioning like it usually does, and the Boks were struggling to get quick ball at the breakdowns. That contributed to the attack struggling to deal with the swarming high press Italy defence.
Yet there were still some of the essential ingredients present. The scrum was dominant, as it always is, and Italy failed to get their hands on the ball for most of the first 20 minutes. The wave after wave of Bok attacks would eventually take its toll, or so we thought. The halftime advantage suggested they were on track, but it proved a mirage.
BOMB SQUAD DIDN”T TAKE FIREWORKS ONTO THE PITCH
Fireworks lit up the night sky above Loftus when the feared Bomb Squad arrived on the field en masse early in the second half, but the gunpowder just hung in the air and wasn’t matched on the field.
To the other issues was added a disturbingly vulnerable defence and the ignominy of conceding a driving maul try, one that spanned several metres. Bok teams just don’t do that, particularly not against Italy. Give Italy their due though - the Boks said all week they would be physical, and they were. This is not an era where Italy are easy beats, and full marks to them for keeping their defensive line-speed up for the entire 80 minutes. Not that it was them who were doing the defending in a half hour period after halftime where they scored 21 points to 7. Marco van Staden’s late try restored some order, but then Italy came back and nearly scored again. In fact, they were over the line and had the score chalked off.
It all adds up to the Boks having a lot of work to do in the two months before they get to Auckland, and given that Georgia lost at home to a second string Ireland team denuded of British and Irish Lions players, a lot of what the Boks want from this initial phase of the season needs to be concentrated into Saturday’s second test against the Italians in Gqeberha.
Coach Rassie Erasmus appeared to hint afterwards that some tricky selection calls may be necessary and his post-match utterances should be viewed by some of the senior Boks who have question marks over their ability to make it to 2027 that the Loftus game wasn’t a good one for them.
FRANCE MADE STATEMENT AROUND DEPTH
That’s where the long view comes in and on that score it wasn’t just the Pretoria game that should have been concerning for the Boks. Indeed, the All Blacks at times against France in Dunedin looked even more vulnerable than the Boks did later in the day. Remembering of course that they weren’t playing against anything close to a full strength France team.
It was France that arguably sounded the loudest warning for the Boks on the first day of the July international phase of the rugby year. If there is one nation that can match this one for player depth it is France, and their under-20 team has proved over quite a few years now that it is growing all the time. While the Boks profit from having players spread high and wide, France are profiting from the strength of their Top 14 domestic competition that continues to supply the European champions.
There was a time foreigners were the main headline act in the Top 14, but that is no longer the case. Like the Boks, the All Blacks never really looked like losing to a French team that was so denuded of regulars that the commentators agreed pre-match that they didn’t know what to expect and didn’t really know the French players.
TIMING OF CHANGE NEEDS TO BE RIGHT
Those that have watched the recent global under-20 tournaments though did appear to know the players and that’s what should have sent a chill or two through Bok spines. France are already a mighty team, champions of Europe and in the top three. Their younger, less experienced players being so competitive in an away test against the All Blacks suggests they could grow an extra leg between now and 2027.
The message that was sent to Erasmus, or perhaps it was just reinforcement of what he already knew, was that he has to get the timing of any necessary changing to the current guard in Bok rugby right or the new players could be short of where the French will be when the next World Cup kicks off in Australia.
All of this of course adds interest to Saturday’s clash in Gqeberha, and Erasmus should feel he got what he needed in Pretoria - a hard game. You learn a lot more from those games than the easy wins like the one his team scored against the Barbarians the week before. Italy will feel they are taking some momentum with them to the Eastern Cape so it could be interesting.
Castle Lager Incoming Tour Result - First test
South Africa 42 Italy 24 (halftime 28-3)
Other International Results
New Zealand 31 France 27
Argentina 12 England 35
Georgia 5 Italy 34
Japan 24 Wales 19
Waratahs 10 British and Irish Lions 21