7 November 2026
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has urged his side to focus entirely on securing a victory against Italy before chasing bonus points in their Nations Championship campaign. Speaking ahead of the clash in Turin, the double World Cup winner emphasised that the squad cannot afford to look past their immediate opponents. The South Africans currently sit level with New Zealand on 15 points at the top of the southern hemisphere standings.
Kolisi will earn his 108th Test cap when he leads the team onto the field at Allianz Stadium. He dismissed any concerns that a multi-week layoff since their September Test against Australia would cause the team to look rusty.
"When we went away, two weeks in, the guys started messaging each other because we missed each other, so it’s never hard for us to get up for a game," Kolisi said. "So we’re excited, and hopeful that we can start this tour strongly."
“This is a new competition, which is also something to be excited about, so we have an important game this week. We’ve trained well, we are prepared, and we can’t wait for the game.”
Media attention ahead of the fixture has focused heavily on the tight race with the All Blacks. However, Kolisi noted that the team is prioritising the match result over tournament mathematics.
“We just want to win. The first thing is to get the win, and if we get the lead in the game, then we can go for the bonus point,” said the Bok skipper. “You can’t think about bonus points before you even have a win, so we’ll take the game as it comes, and we respect each team. We’re playing Italy at home, and we know how tough it was for us to play against them here last year.
“There’s nothing we can do to control what New Zealand do in their games. All we have control over is what we do as a team.”
Italy pushed the Springboks hard during their previous meeting on European soil last year. Kolisi warned that managing their own performance is the only pathway to a positive result this weekend.
"We’re playing Italy at home, and we know how tough it was for us to play against them here last year," Kolisi added. "There’s nothing we can do to control what New Zealand do in their games. All we have control over is what we do as a team."
