Springbok utility back Ethan Hooker, who made his Test debut against Italy during the Castle Lager Incoming Series, expects Italy to provide the Springboks with “a serious challenge” in Turin on Saturday at 14:40 (SA Time).
“They are always a tough team, I’ve never faced them at home, but I can imagine they’d be a different monster over here,” said Hooker.
“Our team is not finalised yet, but if I were to play against them, it would be a very special game because I made my debut against them, so it would almost be a homecoming for me in a way.”
Commenting on their backs specifically, Hooker said, “They have very good backs who are extremely physical, and they have great playmakers, so I think it would be a perfect test for us."
“The keys for us will be to front up physically, take whatever comes our way, stick to our structures, and then just perform as well as we can.”
Hooker added: “They’ll take huge confidence from last week because the Wallabies are a quality team. They’ll definitely take the things they learned from that game and try to use them against us as well.”
The exciting young back brushed off talk that the Boks would enter the favourites as the top team on the world rankings, while Italy is ranked 10th and said: “World rankings are important for the World Cup draw, but going into this game, it doesn’t mean much to us. It’s all about how the team pitches up on the day, so we don’t look much into that."
“They’ve beaten us in Italy before (in 2016), and they are going to come out and give their best, so we have to match them and be better than them on the day to get the result.”
Hooker said that he prefers inside centre; however, he’s more than happy to move to the wing if needed.
“I love being able to play multiple positions. It widens my game, and I want to be as versatile as possible to give the coaches opportunities to play me wherever they feel I can make an impact. As long as I am on the field, that’s all that matters."
“I’m very privileged to be in the situation I am now. Being in an environment with good players and high-quality coaches automatically ups your game. I’m just trying to take away as much as I can and build on myself every single day with the players I have around me.”
“What’s special about this environment is how each and every single person is so eager to better themselves. No one is complacent regardless of how they are performing. Everyone wants to improve and get better every single day.”