Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada has admitted his side were simply outclassed by South Africa's power game in Saturday's 66-7 Nations Championship defeat, saying the Boks' physicality left his team with nowhere to turn.
The numbers back him up. Italy were forced into 147 tackles to South Africa's 110, managed just 59 post-contact metres against the Boks' 129, and were beaten 12-2 in linebreaks despite the two sides making a similar number of ball carries.
The scrum was the one area Quesada pointed to as a relative positive, though even that came with a caveat. "We had placed a big focus on the scrum, but we knew it's an area where we could compete," he said. "Our players love to scrum; it's in our culture and an important facet of the game. We knew if the scrum didn't go our way, the score could've been even uglier."
He noted that Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu's opening try came off a scrum that lasted several minutes, illustrating how even Italy's strongest suit was ultimately turned against them.
Beyond the set piece, Quesada offered little mitigation. "The Boks played a power game with and without the ball; they were extremely aggressive. Every ruck was dirty and slow, and they created pressure on our halfbacks. They were absolutely dominant in their strengths and played an amazing game."