South Africa captain Babalwa Latsha bemoaned a lack of discipline after her spirited side went down 36-18 to Italy in WXV 2.
Aseza Hele was shown a red card in the second half after Veroeshka Grain was sin-binned in the first period, as South Africa’s tackle height proved to their undoing in Cape Town.
Italy made the most of their numerical advantage on both occasions, and despite well-worked tries from Latsha and Byrhandre Dolf, South Africa will require a win against Samoa next Friday to avoid relegation to WXV 3.
“I thought that we could have been a little bit more disciplined, but we showed phenomenal fight,” said Latsha.
“This is the beauty of rugby, we felt that it was a fantastic challenge, we stepped up under very difficult circumstances having a couple of players down and we fought tooth and nail.
“We were on the hunt like a pack of wolves, and I am hugely proud of the Springbok Women and the performance we’ve put out here today.
“Unfortunately the result didn’t go our way, but I’m super proud of the effort and the way we came together and fought in this game.”
Despite early pressure from the Boks, it was Italy who hit the front inside three minutes after a sublime coast to coast score.
After second row Sara Tounesi forced a turnover on her own five-metre line, the backs took control, passing through the hands to set Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi away.
The hosts bounced back quickly, with prop Latsha bulldozing her way over to level the scores after good work from the pack, but Italy regained the lead just a few minutes later after Aura Muzzo scored in the corner.
It was at this stage that South Africa’s discipline started to become a problem, with centre Grain shown a yellow card for shoulder to head contact. Italy pounced, as Alissa Ranuccini powered over after some neat work from Beatrice Rigoni.
The sides then exchanged penalties prior to the break with fly-half Libbie Janse Van Rensburg on target for the hosts and centre Beatrice Capomaggi also successful, leaving the Azzurre 22-10 ahead at halftime.
Hele’s red card for a dangerous head-to-head collision with Veronica Madia then left South Africa with a mountain to climb and they were punished when Vittoria Vecchini burst through to extend Italy's lead.
Wing Dolf stepped her way to the line for her second try of the tournament to offer late hope, but after South Africa lost both their hookers to injury, they were lacking the edge needed at the set piece to force a late comeback, and instead saw Italy put the seal on victory through Alyssa D’Inca.
Following back-to-back defeats, skipper Latsha called on the home support to get behind them ahead of Friday’s potential relegation decider.
“This is what we live for,” she said. “We represent the fans that come to support us, we fight for them and live for them, we hope we have inspired the young girls today to do so much more.”