Italy v South Africa: Teams
South Africa new-boy Wian du Preez admits he is expecting a "baptism of fire" against Italy's Martin Castrogiovanni on Saturday.
Last Updated: 21/11/09 9:12pm
South Africa new-boy Wian du Preez admits he is expecting a "baptism of fire" against Italy's Martin Castrogiovanni on Saturday.
Leicester prop Castrogiovanni gave New Zealand front-row novice Wyatt Crockett a torrid time in Milan - and du Preez is expecting a tough encounter.
"It's going to be a challenge, I saw what he did against the All Blacks and it's a real baptism of fire," said the 27-year-old.
"Its up there, it's my first experience of international rugby so it's going to be a big test.
"The Italians are a big physical side of forwards, you can see they work well as a pack, they've worked well on scrums and drives. Castro's a big guy, it's going to be a physical test on Saturday."
Du Preez gets his chance to shine against the Azzurri, with Tendai Mtawarira dropped to the bench.
Victor Matfield has also been rested for the match, while Schalk Burger and Bismarck du Plessis are injured.
That means Adriaan Strauss, Danie Rossouw and Andries Bekker also come into the starting XV.
Italy coach Nick Mallett has dropped experienced duo Mauro Bergamasco and Gonzalo Canale to the bench as he looks to snap a 12-game losing streak.
Matteo Pratichetti, Alberto Sgarbi, Simon Picone, Simone Favaro and Fabio Ongaro come into the side that lost to the All Blacks.
The Azzurri have never beaten the Springboks - with them having lost every game by at least 19 points.
Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Matteo Pratichetti, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Simon Picone; 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Ignacio Rouyet, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Gonzalo Canale.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Adi Jacobs, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Tendai Mtawarira, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Victor Matfield, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Wynand Olivier.