Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Rassie Erasmus insisted that South Africa must improve if they are to beat France and Ireland in the Nations Championship, despite running in nine tries in a demolition job of Italy on Saturday.

Issued on: 07/11/2026 - 16:53

The world champions blew away the Azzurri with a 66-7 victory in Turin to notch a fourth consecutive bonus-point victory that kept them top of the Southern Hemisphere standings ahead of sterner tests in Paris and Dublin.

The star-studded Springboks proved far too strong for an understrength Italian side missing 16 players, blowing away the hosts in the first half with six unanswered tries.

However, head coach Erasmus insisted it was an imperfect display from his side despite the emphatic scoreline and rampant attacking rugby.

"It's almost impossible to put 80 minutes together at 100 per cent," Erasmus told a press conference.

"Obviously, we are not happy with the second half. We scored 45 points in the first half, and the final score was 66, so we got another 21 points in the second half.

"Italy are a proud team, and despite being 45 points down, they started running the ball from everywhere, while we also made some changes that we wanted to see, and with that one loses a bit of rhythm.

"But when you win 66–7, I don't think you can start nitpicking problems in the second half. It wasn't perfect, but it was proper.

"That said, we have to play much better than this if we want to be competitive against France and Ireland. But it's nice to know that after being a month away from one other, the boys got together and played like that."

The victory ensured that South Africa bounced back from a surprise September defeat in Australia, only their second loss of 2026.

The other came against New Zealand during the 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry' series in the summer, but the Boks won the series 3-1 to cement their status as favourites to retain their crown at next year's Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Moerat return delayed by spasms

With a blockbuster clash against Six Nations champions France coming up at the Stade de France on Friday, the only bad news for Erasmus was an injury to lock Salmaan Moerat that forced his withdrawal during the warm-up.

"Salmaan had a little bit of a back spasm on Thursday, but we thought it would clear up," said Erasmus.

"He looked good at the captain's practice, but unfortunately in the warm-up he got more back spasms, so hopefully it's not too serious.

"He's the only casualty we have from the game. I don't think there are any other serious injuries."

Italy enjoyed a memorable Six Nations campaign at the start of the year, beating Scotland before claiming their first-ever win against England in Rome.

However, Gonzalo Quesada's side have now lost four in a row in the Nations Championship after summer defeats on the road to Japan, New Zealand and Australia, and the Azzurri head coach said an honest review was required.

"There are several negatives," Quesada said.

"The big challenge for us now is to be capable of understanding that we faced the best team in the world, who played a great match, and accept it.

"At the same time, we can't afford to just say, 'Okay, they were too good,' and that's it. We could have done better; we were put under too much pressure, particularly in our kicking game, but in all areas of the game."

© 2026 AFP

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