TURIN, Italy (AP) — A red card for a second straight week prompted South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus to say he was sad for the players he had to sacrifice, including captain Siya Kolisi, in order to beat Italy on Saturday.
Lock Franco Mostert was sent off in the 12th minute for a high tackle. As Italy flyhalf Paolo Garbisi was tackled low by Ethan Hooker, Mostert led with his shoulder into Garbisi's head without using his arms. The Springboks played nearly 70 minutes short a man and still won 32-14.
Another Springbok lock, Lood de Jager, was red-carded against France in Paris last weekend for a similar tackle on Thomas Ramos. The Springboks won 32-17 with 14 men. De Jager received a four-game suspension that ruled him out of the rest of South Africa’s European tour.
South Africa also beat Italy with 14 men in their previous clash in July in Gqeberha. Jasper Wiese was sent off for a headbutt in the 20th minute and South Africa won 45-0. Wiese also was suspended for four games.
“We are a very proud team in the way we level change and avoid head contact and we've received so many red cards,” Erasmus said. “We are really trying hard.”
He didn't want to comment on Mostert's actions “but losing two locks in two games now for going lower than they can go, it's tough to understand.
“We don't know how to coach guys to go lower, especially for a two-meter-tall guy (de Jager) to face someone who is on his knees (Ramos) is tough. And then to play with 13 men, and them (Italy) with 14 for a while, it was tougher than last week.”
Erasmus said he was proud of his team's ability to win without a full complement but sad for players he had to strategically remove from the game.
“Yes, we have a way to adapt but it's unfair on individuals like Siya and Ben-Jason (Dixon), who received a chance (to play a test) for the first time in a long time,” Erasmus said.
Beside Dixon, Erasmus also took off Zachary Porthen, Boan Venter and Edwill van der Merwe in the first half to field more experienced players, and Solisi at the start of the second half for RG Snyman. He removed his captain in Paris last weekend at halftime.
“It's not just them suffering, the game is suffering,” Erasmus said. “That certainly makes us tighter as a team and more desperate, but it doesn't take the hurt away, even though we got through it. I'm happy with the result but I'm still sad for the players who have to take the brunt for someone who did something wrong by accident.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
South Africa's Franco Mostert leaves the pitch after getting a red card during the rugby union Nations Series match between Italy and South Africa, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Italy's Monty Ioane, left, and South Africa's Edwill Van Der Merwe battle for the ball during the rugby union Nations Series match between Italy and South Africa, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
One U.S. service member was rescued and at least one was missing after two U.S. military planes went down in separate incidents including the first shoot-down since the war began nearly five weeks ago.
It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”
One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.
Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.
The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Here is the latest:
Israel’s rescue services said Saturday the man sustained glass shrapnel wounds after an Iranian missile hit the central city of Bnei Brak.
It wasn't clear if the glass shrapnel was caused by a direct strike or falling debris from an intercepted missile.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said it was taking the man to the hospital.
The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said Saturday that the two men who were hanged belonged to the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
The agency said Abul-Hassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amirian were convicted of “being members of a terrorist group.”
This brings to six the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.
Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that its air force struck ballistic and and anti-aircraft missile storage sites in Tehran.
It said the strikes a day earlier included weapons manufacture sites as well as military research and development facilities in the Iranian capital.
It said the strikes are part of an ongoing phase to increase damage to Iran's “core systems and foundations.”
Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.
Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.
It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.
Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.
The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.
Palestinian Muslims attend Friday prayers outside Jerusalem's Old City due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Tamara and her sister Amal color pictures on the floor as their parents, Sara and Ahmed, who fled their village of Khiyam in southern Lebanon due to Israeli bombardment, sit inside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE - An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
