With Nations Championship final qualification directly on the line, Willemse and Nortje have been blunt about what Saturday's Turin Test means — lose, and the Boks are effectively out of the race for the Twickenham final on 29 November. Willemse is emphatic that the squad isn't looking past Italy, flagging their set-piece physicality and tactical sophistication as genuine threats despite injury absentees in the Italian camp. His confidence in Erasmus's largely settled selection suggests the coaching staff have identified specific matchup advantages worth preserving from the All Blacks series. Nortje, meanwhile, previews what the Moerat partnership brings to the engine room — two players with shared history stretching back to Junior Bok days — and warns that Italy's passion and intensity will demand a full-throttle response from the first whistle regardless of their injury list.