SA Schools B win in Witbank
Match report
South African Schools B beat the touring Italian Under-18 side 22-5 in Witbank on Friday evening, a curtainraiser to the Currie Cup match between the Pumas and the Valke.
It was the Azzurrini's last match on their four-match tour. They beat Pretoria Boys High and a Golden Lions Invitation XV and lost 39-13 to SA Schools A and now to the B team.
The Italian side, several of whom were battling with flu, had a good first half and trailed only 3-0 at the break but faded somewhat in the second half as the South Africans ran in three tries before versatile Matteo Nava scored for the visitors.
After the match the coach Andrea Cavinato said: "Today we played a great game, showing courage and aggression. I believe that if we had not had to contend with illness we would have made the match ours. In the first half we were down only 3-0 and had missed two kicks at goal from good positions but in the second half we could no longer keep it up physically after the problems of the last few days but we did come back to score a try.
"The side has made remarkable improvement and this group should be able to compete well at Under-19 next year."
Coach Andrea Sgorlon said: "A great season has ended with a great match."
Scorers:
For SA Schools B:
Tries: Buthelezi, Van Rensburg, Mfundise
Cons: Boshoff 2
Pen: Boshoff
For Italy Under-18:
Try: Nava
Teams:
South African Schools B: South African Schools B: 15 Damian Janse van Rensburg, 14 Msizi Buthelezi, 13 Wentsley Scott, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Baphiwe Mfundise, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Boela Abrahams, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (captain), 7 Wimpie van der Walt, 6 Siyasanga Mkiva, 5 Bêrend Botha, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Henri Bantjes, 1 Corné Fourie
Replacements:16 CG Stoumann, 17 Daniël Wiso, 18 Thiliphatu Marole, 19 Gerard Swart, 20 Sonwabiso Socikwa, 21 Wilton Pietersen, 22 Eduardo Fourie
Coaches: Ezzard Alexander (Griquas), Jaco Swanepoel (Free State), Ndumiso Memani (Border)
Italy Under-18: 15 Matteo Nava, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Alberto Chiesa, 12 Giovanni Massaro, 11 Andrea Bacchetti, 10 Riccardo Bocchino (Mattia Locatelli), 9 Michael Wilson, 8 Lorenzo Puliti (captain), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Simion, 5 Filippo Giusti, 4 Stefano Amadio, 3 Elia Violi (Gabriele Morelli), 2 Marco Moscarda (Tommaso D’Apice), 1 Andrea De Marchi (Lorenzo Sebastiani)
Coaches: Andrea Cavinato, Andrea Sgorlon
Referee: Dudley Stuurman (Western Province)