The remarkable rise of flanker Vincent Tshituka from a child refugee to the Springboks Test team will be completed on Saturday when he faces Italy in Pretoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He fled to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo with his family in 2002 to avoid politically-induced violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, while studying at the University of Johannesburg, he fell in love with rugby. It was an unusual choice given he came from a country where football is the dominant sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tshituka caught the eye of scouts from the Johannesburg-based Lions, one of the four major rugby franchises in South Africa, and quickly established himself in the matchday 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2022 he moved to another of the ‘big four’, the Sharks in Durban, and became part of a Springbok-stacked pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But to be eligible for the Springboks he had to become a South African citizen, which the 26-year-old achieved recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He debuted for South Africa against the Barbarians last weekend and scored two tries in a 54-7 triumph. However, it was an exhibition match, so no caps were awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the clash with Italy is an official Test and no Springbok will be prouder than Tshituka when he runs on to the Loftus Versfeld pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Playing for the Springboks in a Test is the greatest sporting honour available to me. I have dreamt for many years of wearing the green and gold,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Fleeing Congo was a traumatic experience, particularly for my wonderful parents. After arriving in South Africa, my father would go to rubbish dumps, find items of value, and sell them to feed us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There was little money, but we survived because our parents displayed incredible love for their children. We owe them so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I did not go to a rugby-playing school, which was a disadvantage. But at university I made up for lost time and it is hard to describe exactly how I feel before facing the Italians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The more difficult your background, the more you appreciate the opportunities life presents. Saturday is going to be an extraordinary special day for me and my family,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tshituka is one of only three Springboks in the matchday 23 who were not part of the 2019 or 2023 Rugby World Cup-winning teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The others are scrum-half Morne van den Berg and tighthead prop Wilco Louw as South Africa start a 13-Test schedule that ends in Wales in late November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has shown respect toward Italy by fielding a team lackking only two regular first choices — injured flankers Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Captain Kolisi also missed the Barbarians match and outside centre Jesse Kriel debuts as a Test captain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Everyone expects us to beat Italy, but they were really competitive in the first two rounds of the 2025 Six Nations Championship,” said Erasmus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Thereafter, they struggled with their player depth as they do not have such a large pool of players. They will be ready for us, though, and we dare not underestimate them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Italy coach and former Argentina fly-half Gonzalo Quesada has made 10 changes to the team that started a narrow loss to Ireland last March in their final 2025 Six Nations outing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the defeat, the Azzurri dodged the wooden spoon for the second straight season having earlier beaten Wales in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top-ranked South Africa are nine places above Italy and have scored an average of 55 points in winning seven previous home matches between the countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No where is the gap between the teams more evident than experience. Twelve of the Springboks matchday 23 boast more than 50 caps while Italy have just four half-centurions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The remarkable rise of flanker Vincent Tshituka from a child refugee to the Springboks Test team will be completed on Saturday when he faces Italy in Pretoria. 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