San Francisco Frontiers - Springboks dream comes true for Congolese refugee Tshituka

He fled to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo with his family in 2002 to avoid politically-induced violence.

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.

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.

In 2022 he moved to another of the 'big four', the Sharks in Durban, and became part of a Springbok-stacked pack.

But to be eligible for the Springboks he had to become a South African citizen, which the 26-year-old achieved recently.

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.

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.

"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.

"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.

"There was little money, but we survived because our parents displayed incredible love for their children. We owe them so much.

- 'Disadvantage' -

"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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

Captain Kolisi also missed the Barbarians match and outside centre Jesse Kriel debuts as a Test captain.

"Everyone expects us to beat Italy, but they were really competitive in the first two rounds of the 2025 Six Nations Championship," said Erasmus.

"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."

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.

Despite the defeat, the Azzurri dodged the wooden spoon for the second straight season having earlier beaten Wales in Rome.

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.

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.

D.Parker--SFF