Boks will not underestimate Italy, says Kwagga Smith

Energetic Springbok flanker Kwagga Smith has made it clear that South Africa do not underestimate the Italians and will challenge them with the respect they deserve when the sides lock horns Genoa on Saturday.

The Boks have had a disappointing Autumn Nations Series campaign thus far, having lost to both Ireland and, most recently, France. Conversely, the Azzurri have shown some fantastic form and powered past Samoa in their opening fixture before toppling the Wallabies –  for the first time in their history – last weekend.

“Italy have been building for some time under the coaching staff that was with Benetton (Kiwi Kieran Crowley and his assistants) and having teams in the United Rugby Championship has given their young players excellent exposure. The Italy age group teams have been very good in recent years and that talent is coming through now,” Smith said.

“Until now, Italy was a team where you could fall into the trap of not being properly prepared for them and then they shock you, but that time is over now after they backed up their Six Nations win over Wales by beating Australia.

“In fact, last week I thought Australia were lucky to score that last try to come back into that game. It is a wake-up call for us to know we have to play at our best to beat them.”

Smith shared his thoughts on the Boks’ brace of narrow losses thus far.

“It tends to be close margins against top-tier teams, but a good way to get on the right side of the scoreboard is to make sure there are not three or four points in it towards the end,” he said.

“We are working hard to make sure we put these teams away by seven points or more so that it doesn’t come down to close calls at the end that can influence the result.

“There are small errors here and there that we can eliminate and it is about getting more efficient and what we do.

“Discipline, for example, is vital and we want to be the best disciplined team in world rugby so the opposition doesn’t get those opportunities to kick deep into our territory. We don’t want them entering our 22...

“And then when we get into their 22, we have to get better at taking our opportunities quickly because at the moment we are burning a lot of energy going through the phases.”