Italy’s normally talkative and spirited head coach Conor O’Shea has conceded he was speechless after South Africa crushed Italy to avenge last year’s historic defeat.
It was the first visit to Italy by Coetzee’s side since their 18-20 defeat in Florence in November 2016 – their first loss ever to Italy.
Handre Pollard received the Man of the Match award in the #Springboks 35-6 win over Italy in Padova on Saturday. #ITAvRSA @MTNza @ASICS_ZA pic.twitter.com/xtq1bP7NLa
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) November 25, 2017
“It’s always very difficult to describe a game like that. We just have to say that South Africa were better than us today,” said O’Shea.
“It is difficult to find the right words. However, I am happy that in the coming years we will have a team that is of the same level.
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“Rugby is always a matter of field energy, and today South Africa had more than us,” continued the former Harlequins coach with flyhalf Carlo Canna the scorer of Italy’s two penalties.
“The South African players are very strong and it was difficult to counter them.
“At this time, the keyword must be resilience in the face of defeat. With this group we are going through an incredible journey and we want to make the difference in the future with a growing team depth.”