South Africa vs Italy live: Latest Springboks score and updates

South Africa did, however, suffer some rough injury luck in that non-capped game, with Jean Kleyn now back with Munster after being ruled out of this two-Test series.

“We feel for Jean, but injuries are part of the game, and we are fortunate to have good depth at lock within the squad so there is no need for us to replace him at this stage,” Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus said.

Kleyn partnered Lood de Jager in the second row in Saturday’s win over the Barbarians in Cape Town, with the latter playing his first game for the side in two years following shoulder issues and starting again today.

This is the first fully-fledged international outing for South Africa this year, but the Springboks got up and running in a sense with a ruthless dismantling of the Barbarians last week. A 54-7 win served as a useful hit-out for Rassie Erasmus’s side, though they’ll be expecting a rather more stern examination today.

A very good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of this intriguing little encounter between South Africa and Italy. Meetings between the Springboks and the Azzurri are relatively rare, with the visitors facing up to the tough challenge of the world champions as they bid to continue their development under Gonzalo Quesada.

Kick off in Pretoria is at 4.10pm BST.