Italian coach Brad Johnstone said on Thursday that his charges would take the fight to the Springboks, especially up front.

The two teams meet in a one-off Test in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

Johnstone named a relatively strong side to play against the Boks despite reports that the tourists had lost their top 27 players to a variety of reasons.

Ten of the players that had played against England in the recent Six Nations have been included in the side. Johnstone said the cornerstone to the Italian attack would come from set pieces.

"The Italian pack is strong, it did well in the Six Nations," said the former Fiji coach. "We will attack the Springboks, not sit back and wait for them," he said.

Johnstone conceded that he was concerned over the lack of experience in the Italian backline but he said it was the best at his disposal and he hoped the step-up for the players would not be too great.

Johnstone hit out at the players who decided to stay at home and focus on their upcoming club seasons rather than tour.

"They stayed to fix themselves up for the club season but they could have toured and then had the operations some of them may have needed," he said.

Johnstone said this tour was vital to Italy's 2003 World Cup campaign in that he was looking to find 10 new players to take his team to the tournament. "Then I'll be happy," the New Zealander said.

Italy: Giovanni Antoni, Massimiliano Perziano, Luca Martin, Walter Pozzebon, Nicola Mazzucato, Francesco Mazzariol, Allessandro Troncon, Carlo Checchinato, Aaron Persico, Fabio Ongaro, Marc Giacheri, Wim Visser, Andrea Muraro, Allesandro Moscardi, Salvatore Perugini. Substitutes: Giampiero de Carli, Claudio Beltamini, Marco Beltolami, Andrea de Rossi, Felipo Frati, Ramiro Pez, Giovanni Raineri. - Sapa