If an energetic Italian side get their tails up and put their foot to the pedal on attack, the Springboks must remain structured to hold them at bay, says Springbok prop Thomas du Toit.
After the Boks beat a spirited Azzurri 42-24 at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, the scene is set for a fascinating rematch at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday kickoff 5.10pm.
At halftime in Pretoria the Boks looked to be cruising to a big win when they opened up a 28-3 lead before the never-say-die Italians produced a spirited second-half comeback.
Though Italy are ranked 10th in the world, the South Africans are expecting another tough battle against the proud Azzurri.
We could have been much better last week and there were certain aspects of the game in which we had to look ourselves in the eye and say we were not good enough, Du Toit said.