It's a clear sign of how far down the international rung the Springboks have slumped in 2016 that the Artemio Franchi Stadium will be little more than half full for today’s Test.
The Boks used to be blockbuster news coming to town and even in a football mad country they made the back pages of local papers. They have hardly registered in any newspapers this week with the first Italian reporters showing up on Thursday.
The Azzuri are also part of the lack of interest in this match, as they have won only two of their nine Tests in 2016 – against the USA and Canada.
The Boks have fared little better with four wins in 10, but at least they have played the All Blacks and Wallabies in four of those matches.
Italy have a young, inexperienced team for this clash as coach Conor ’O Shea takes a long term view to his team’s progress. There can be no such approach from Springbok counterpart Allister Coetzee.
As unthinkable as a loss to Italy seems, defeat would surely spell the end of Coetzee’s tenure as coach.
It’s not going to happen, because the Boks are too desperate and the opposition too weak to break them but the mere fact that defeat against Italy is part of the conversation indicates how far the Boks have slumped in 2016.
“I would like to have a very successful day tomorrow. It’s been a season of frustration. We’ve been working hard and hopefully it will come together,” Bok captain Adriaan Strauss said.
“We have had a great week of training but to be honest our sessions have been good all year. The effort and energy has always been there but we haven’t carried that through on to the field on Saturdays.
“Hopefully we can take a step closer to becoming the team we want to be on Saturday. It will be a physical battle but first and foremost we have to be clinical. We haven’t done that for 80 minutes this season.”
As usual Italy will be abrasive and niggly, and their breakdown work will be manic, but aside from the superb No8 Sergio Parisse, they have very little individual skill that could hurt the Boks.
Coetzee has handed a first start to flank Nizaam Carr and also recalled wing Bryan Habana – who will make his 124th Test appearance.
Habana has 66 Test tries and is closing in on former Japanese wing Daisuke Ohata’s record of 69 Test tries, which were mostly scored against tier two nations.
A hattrick from Habana would be a perfect birthday present for Strauss, who celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday.
Habana’s return and the selection of the same halfbacks and centres for the first time this year, gives the backline a more settled feel. It’s behind the scrum where the Boks have endured the worst of their struggles in 2016.
“Consistency in selection definitely helps,” Strauss said.
“A lot of us didn’t know each other well at the beginning of the season, so it’s good that we have consistency in some positions.
“We approach every week the same and we will give Italy the same amount of respect we gave England.
“But we are mainly focusing on ourselves. We have made far too many mistakes, turning over ball and not executing when we have been in good positions.
“We have to be better and more clinical.”
Habana echoed those sentiments: “We are in a tough situation but there is no one that is going to get us out of it but ourselves,” Habana said.
“It’s been a good week of training, a positive week but winning the Test will be about the performance we put in, between the four lines.
“Hopefully my experience and what I bring in terms of leadership can give the guys around me more opportunity to play rugby.”