World champions South Africa defeated Italy 29-13 despite a disjointed and lethargic performance at the Puma Stadium in Witbank on Saturday.
The Springboks appeared affected by the host of changes to the team who beat France last week, although they still conjured up four tries in the first of a two-Test series.
The visitors enjoyed greater territory and possession, especially in the opening quarter, but were too limited in their approach to seriously trouble the hosts.
Flyhalf Morne Steyn scored 14 points for South Africa, while eight of Italy’s points came from the boot of winger Mirco Bergamasco.
Springboks captain Victor Matfield said he had been frustrated by his team’s error-strewn display.
“I don’t think we played very well and we made too many basic errors,” he said. “We’ll work on that and next week will definitely be better. It’s just the top three inches that we have to get right.”
Bergamasco kicked a 13th-minute penalty to give Italy the lead for the first and only time but Steyn equalized two minutes later as his teammates shook off their rust.
Winger Bryan Habana put the Springboks in front in the 18th minute when a powerful drive by flanker Francois Louw produced quick ball for the backs.
Butch James made a well-timed pass to full-back Zane Kirchner, who grubbered through for Habana to run on to unopposed.
Louw, a late replacement for Schalk Burger, was in the action 10 minutes later when he barged over from a driving maul close to the Italian line.
Steyn was unable to convert but the fly-half made amends on the stroke of half-time when he danced over for his side’s third try and converted it for a 19-point lead.
Kirchner notched the fourth try nine minutes after the restart when Steyn probed the blindside from a ruck and found his Bulls teammate unmarked on the touchline.
The Springboks were later dealt a blow when James was yellow carded, which gave Italy captain and man-of-the-match Sergio Parisse the space to dive over in the 63rd minute after a good break by scrum-half Tito Tebaldi.
Bergamasco narrowed the gap to 13 points with his second penalty 11 minutes from time, but Italy could not convert a late rally into further points.
“I’m happy about the enthusiasm of my team, especially in the second half,” Parisse said. “We’re looking forward to the second Test next week in East London.”
“For us, it’s very difficult to play South Africa, but it’s the best way to build ahead of next year’s World Cup,” he said.
■PUMAS 9, SCOTLAND 13
REUTERS, MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA
Scotland beat Argentina 13-9 on Saturday, in a match played in heavy rain and high winds, to take their Test series 2-0.
The key to Scotland’s win at the Atlantic beach resort of Mar del Plata, 400km from Buenos Aires, was the only try of the match which came after three minutes when Dan Hamilton crossed over and Dan Parks converted.
Parks, who scored all Scotland’s 24 points in the first Test last Saturday, added two more penalties to again be his team’s leading scorer with eight points, but he also missed two penalty kicks and a couple of attempts at drops.
The Pumas had to be content with three penalties and conceded eight.
Scotland led 10-6 at half-time, after having the wind in their favor for the first half and having had complete control of the ball for the first 10 minutes.
Argentina improved in the second half with the wind at their backs, but hard tackling by both sides produced only one more penalty for each team with Martin Rodriguez landing his only kick after Pumas captain Felipe Contemponi, who scored the other two penalties, went off with a leg injury.
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