Boks brace for confident Italy: 'You can easily fall into a trap'

In Genoa

Springbok flanker Kwagga Smith said they need to be on their toes for the threat Italy poses when they meet them at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday.

Smith, who started at No 8 in last week's 30-26 loss to France in Marseille, is back on the bench and felt Italy sent a veiled rugby message about their growing abilities.

Italy's 28-27 win against Australia in Florence last week was their third on the bounce after successes against Wales on 19 March and Samoa on 5 November.

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Italy's win against Wales ended a 36-match losing streak in the Six Nations and they've turned that into some decent momentum.

"It doesn't cause panic but causes more awareness for this weekend as they're not a team that can be taken lightly," Smith said.

"They also played well against Wales in the Six Nations, and they put up a really good performance against Australia last week.

"I think Australia was lucky to score that last try to come back into the game, so for us, it's a wake-up call to know that it won't be an easy game.

"We need to be on top of our game to ensure that we win here in Italy."

Italy

15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Montanna Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti 

Substitutes: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Tommaso Menoncello  

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11