South Africa vs Italy match sparks massive controversy
Red cards and national anthem flops! Despite South Africa's win, this past weekend's match against Italy was riddled with controversy.
Saturday, 15 November saw the Springboks beat Italy’s national rugby team, the Azzurri, 14–32 in Turin, once again with only 14 players on the field.
Despite the victory, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the match.
South Africa's National Anthem
South Africans were left outraged after an Italian opera singer "butchered" 'Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika' right before the South Africa versus Italy match.
As usual, both nations' national anthems were performed ahead of the game with South Africa's being first.
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Unfortunately, things didn't go too well for the Italian singer, from missing core lyrics to a few pitch and melody issues.
Fans were not happy after the singer's rendition, and of course, social media was flooded with critics.
It didn't start too badly, but it just got progressively worse.
Watch here:
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika rings out in Turin for the first time 🇿🇦🎶
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 15, 2025
📺 Stream #QuilterNS on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/sFseWMVQpW
Breakfast with Martin Bester also spoke to former Springbok rugby public relations manager Annelee Murray about how exactly it works to get a singer to perform the national anthem.
This comes after the award-winning radio host, Martin Bester, questioned why South Africans aren't sent to sing the anthem and asked listeners who they think should perform the anthem next.
That red card
More controversy surrounding the game came when Springbok lock Franco Mostert received a red card during the game.
Many people were outraged over the moment, questioning the red card.
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Breakfast with Martin Bester spoke to former South African rugby player and presenter Nick Mallett about Mostert's red card.
This was South Africa's second red card in just a week after Lood de Jager's dismissal in Paris the previous week.
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Image: X/ Screenshot