World champions South Africa produced a ruthless 66-7 demolition of Italy in the Nations Championship at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday 7 November 2026, scoring nine tries, all of them converted, to keep their perfect record in the competition intact.

The Springboks led 45-0 at half-time and had effectively ended the contest before the interval, running in six tries in the opening 40 minutes against an injury-hit Italy side that had no answer to their pace, power and precision.

A near-perfect first half

Fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu opened the scoring with an early penalty before slicing through from 40 metres for the first try, setting the tone for a remarkable opening period. Morne van den Berg burrowed over from close range, Malcolm Marx crossed from a driving maul, and captain Siya Kolisi followed after Feinberg-Mngomezulu produced a 50:22, before Damian Willemse finished a Jasper Wiese break beneath the posts.

Italy's problems deepened when prop Muhamed Hasa was shown yellow for a deliberate knock-on, and Marx capitalised with his second maul try to send South Africa into the interval 45-0 ahead. Italy gained just 60 metres in the first half and forced South Africa to make only 25 tackles, while wasting what little possession they gathered with poor kicking.

Italy rally, then the Boks finish the job

Coach Rassie Erasmus deployed his Bomb Squad early in the second half, and Wilco Louw powered through three tackles soon after for South Africa's seventh try shortly after the restart. Italy improved as the visitors' intensity dipped, and Federico Ruzza finished a well-worked attack in the corner for the hosts' only score, converted by Tommaso Allan after Stephen Varney's huge cut-out pass.

The Springboks eventually reasserted themselves, with Paul de Villiers crossing from another maul before Ethan Hooker crashed over with the final play to complete the nine-try rout.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu was perfect off the tee, landing 10 out of 10 kicks, and finished with 26 points, his third-best haul in Test rugby. The victory leaves South Africa with a maximum 20 points from 20 in the Nations Championship's Southern Hemisphere table and, just as significantly, an 89-point advantage over New Zealand on points difference.

The All Blacks sit second on 15 points, leaving them with ground to make up after South Africa's ruthless afternoon in Turin. South Africa stayed top of the World Rugby rankings, and now face far sterner tests, travelling to Paris to face Six Nations champions France on Friday before finishing the series against Ireland in Dublin on 21 November. Italy dropped to 0-4, with Argentina and Fiji still to come.

[Source: NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/rugby/news/springboks-thrash-depleted-italy-66-7-with-9-tries-in-nations-championship-rugby) | [Source: RugbyPass](https://www.rugbypass.com/news/springboks-blow-italy-away-to-take-control-of-nations-championship-group-south-africa/?c=1)