Quesada: Springboks have shown Italy great respect by sending in the big guns

With South Africa facing tougher tests against France and Ireland later in their campaign, Quesada acknowledged that Erasmus could have rotated his squad against Italy, but instead chose to field his strongest available line-up.

"France and Ireland are certainly bigger challenges and bigger matches for them, so knowing that he's put out his best team, the best players in the world, the best South Africans for us, is just a big sign of respect," Quesada said on Friday.

"On one side we are very proud of that, at the same time it shortened our preparations."

Quesada said that Italy normally spend considerable time analysing opponents and identifying weaknesses around which to build their strategy.

But with the Springboks offering few glaring weaknesses, the Italy coach says his team must concentrate on their own performance.

"When you don't find weaknesses you just have to focus on yourself and do the best you can," he said.

Italy will be without several key players through injury, but Quesada sees the situation as an opportunity to test new talent and assess his squad's character with the 2027 Rugby World Cup just a year away.

"To play four games in a row against top-10 teams is an amazing challenge and the biggest challenge ever for the Italian national team," he added.

"We tried to put players in our starting lineup who'll be ready for a tough and intense game on Saturday.

"On the bench, we have players who've played too much rugby and arrive not in the best condition for this game. We've put players who haven't played enough [in the team] hoping they can do 60 or 70 minutes."

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