Tommaso “Tommy” Allan, the nephew of former Springbok hooker John Allan, says the Azzurri have worked ceaselessly to find a way to stop the green-and gold machine they tackle on Saturday in Turin.
Allan is the son of William Allan, John’s brother and also a former hooker. William played for Glenwood Old Boys in Durban before seeking a fortune in Italian rugby. He made a success of his career in Italy and married a local lady.
Interestingly, Tommaso played for the Scotland U20 team — his grandparents are Scottish — before pinning his colours to the Azzuri mast.
“We know the Boks are in great form and that it will be a very tough game,” said Allan, who plays for the French team Perpignan.
“We’ve been studying them all week — how they attack, how they defend — to understand how to put them under pressure. They’re the best team in the world, and after what they did against France, they’ll be even more fired up.”
Italy are on a high after shocking the Wallabies last week, but Allan says the Boks’ physical edge and high-pressure defence make them a different beast.
“In training this week, we simulated a defence that rushes up like South Africa’s, to be as ready as possible,” Allan said. “They’re very aggressive and rely on their physicality to dominate even in defence. We’ll have to work hard to counter that.”
Allan highlighted that the Boks’ kicking game is key to their attack.
“The Springboks kick more than any other team,” he said. “They use the nine and 10 to put pressure on you in the air, so we have to be good under the high ball and kick smart ourselves. You can’t give them easy counter-attack possession because their back three are so dangerous.”
Allan, who is equally at home at fullback and flyhalf, says his team welcomes the opportunity to measure themselves against the double world champions.
“We know how difficult this game will be, but we also know what we’re capable of,” he said. “We’ve won an important match against the Wallabies, but our focus immediately shifted to South Africa. We’ll need to raise our standards even higher to compete with them.”
ITALY v SOUTH AFRICA | Matchday 23s
Springbok starting XV: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Ethan Hooker, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Boan Venter; Replacements: 16 Gerhard Steenekamp, 17 Wilco Louw, 18 RG Snyman, 19 Ruan Nortjé, 20 André Esterhuizen, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok
Italy starting XV: 15 Ange Capuozzo; 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney; 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Ross Vintcent; 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti; Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Tommaso Allan
