Springboks run riot against Italy with devastating first-half display in Turin

The Boks scored seven tries before the break to effectively put the contest to bed, with their forwards dominating the set-piece and collisions and their backs ruling the skies and looking sharp on attack.

Italy had no answer to the visitors' power and precision in the opening 40 minutes, while South Africa's defence was equally impressive, suffocating the hosts whenever they attempted to build momentum.

The Boks took their foot off the pedal somewhat in the second half, allowing Italy to enjoy more possession and score a well-worked try, although they still outscored the hosts three tries to one.

The Boks made a bright start and were rewarded with an early penalty, which Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted before adding a spectacular try of his own in the ninth minute, producing a clever dummy in the midfield before breaking through a gap and racing into the corner.

South Africa continued to pile on the pressure, with Morne van den Berg eventually spotting an opportunity to break away from the back and snipe over behind a driving maul for the Boks' second try.

The Springboks were rampant, adding two more tries in quick succession. Marx powered over from behind the rolling maul, before Kolisi followed him over three minutes later after another straightforward lineout drive.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu then produced a superb 50/22 to put the Boks back on the front foot, and the pressure eventually told as South Africa won another lineout and drove towards the line. Marx was once again the beneficiary, claiming his second try of the afternoon.

Italy's afternoon went from bad to worse when Muhamed Hasa was shown a yellow card for cynical play. The Boks immediately capitalised, with Lood de Jager charging down a kick before Jasper Wiese ran through a massive gap and offloaded on his inside for Damian Willemse, as it finished 45-0 at half-time.

The second half was a much scrappier affair, with the Boks struggling to reproduce the fluency of their first-half display, despite an early try for Wilco Louw to push the score past 50.

Italy finally got on the scoreboard in the 62nd minute when Federico Ruzza finished off a well-worked move, much to the delight of their long-suffering fans.

The Springboks responded by reasserting their authority at the set-piece, winning a scrum penalty before returning to their familiar driving maul. Paul de Villiers peeled around the blindside to score in the 73rd minute, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding the extras.

And with time running out, the Boks had the final say as Ethan Hooker burst through a tired Italian defence for their 10th and final try to complete a commanding 66-7 victory for the world champions.

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