South Africa’s resilience shines as red card absorbed in 32-14 win over Italy in Turin

By Canadian Press on November 15, 2025.

TURIN, Italy (AP) — South Africa absorbed a red card for a second straight test and prevailed again in beating Italy 32-14 on Saturday.

The Springboks played a man short for almost 70 minutes, and even went down to 13 briefly, but showed the adaptability and resilience that helped them beat France in Paris with 14 men a week ago.

The Boks bench was impactful yet again as they led Italy by only six points with eight minutes to go but secured the win with a try by replacement Grant Williams from a counterattack inside their own half.

They capped a stylish finish moments later when Ethan Hooker, a midfielder moved to the wing, scored his first test try from a kick-pass by replacement Manie Libbok.

Italy flyhalf Paolo Garbisi received the red-card foul but crucially missed three of his six goalkicks — worth eight points — just a week after he was 100% off the tee in a win over Australia.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

The Associated Press