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That was made clear by Springbok vice-captain Schalk Burger at a media interview on Thursday - and he was wholly supported by his new partner in the loose trio, Dewald Potgieter.
And the interpretations of referee Keith Brown at the breakdown will be important in the battle to get quick ball from this phase.
"Of course, I have played lots of rugby with Pierre Spies, but this will be the first time I will play with Dewald," said Burger.
"He is much in the same mould as Flow (Francois Louw) and has a high work rate. I'm confident we'll find one another quickly. We just have to manage the breakdown.
"It is key for us to get quick ball and get momentum and getting the ball across the advantage line.
"I think they've come a long way and will want to disrupt us and get us out or comfort zone."
Potgieter said although he was not an out-and-out fetcher he had the ability to play at either number six, seven or eight.
"I've already started priming myself to play to the ball more than I usually do. Schalk and I play a similar game in many respects and I have modelled my game - especially the defence - on his game, but will have to adapt to ensure we get quick ball."
Burger said they expected Italy to strike up front and particularly in the scrums. They had the upper hand over the Boks in the scrums on the year-end tour to Europe last year.
Italy coach Nick Mallett earlier this week said the scrum was their strength and they would obviously use that, and it was confirmed by former Pumas lock Quentin Geldenhuys who now locks the scrum for Italy.
"Our forwards are our strength and we will obviously use that as a platform," he said.
Playing on his former home ground in Witbank, Geldenhuys said the scrum battle between Martin Castrogiovanni and Gurthro Steenkamp would be an interesting tussle.
The Italian prop, with 67 Test caps to his credit, gave Steenkamp a torrid time when the Boks played Leicester in a mid-week game on last year's Springbok tour and the big Bulls loosehead will be keen to show he is better than that performance brought about by a number of outside factors.
"We know the scrum is one of their strong points and we'll have to neutralise it," Burger said.
It was important, Burger continued, to get the momentum going in the match despite the fact the Boks have never really been extended by Italy.
"It's always a privilege to play in a Test match - and Saturday is a great opportunity for some of the younger players to stake a claim in a squad where the depth and, therefore, the competition are tremendous."
The Springboks, who arrived in Witbank on Sunday, have not yet seen what the field's condition is like, but Burger said they expected to visit the Puma Stadium on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.
Burger is struggling with an ankle injury and has not trained with the team this week. He is expected to have his fitness assessed on Thursday afternoon. Should Burger not be able to play, his Stormers team-mate Louw will take his place in the starting line-up.
** Italy have made six changes to the side which lost 32-10 to the Springboks at Udine in Italy last year. The team includes four players who have more than 50 caps.
Teams:
Springboks:
15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Jean de Villiers, 12. Butch James, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Ricky Januarie, 8. Pierre Spies, 7. Dewald Potgieter, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Victor Matfield (captain), 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Gurthrö Steenkamp
Substitutes: 16. Bandise Maku, 17. CJ van der Linde, 18. Alistair Hargreaves, 19. Ryan Kankowski, 20. Ruan Pienaar, 21. Juan de Jongh, 22. Bjorn Basson
Italy:
15. Luke McLean, 14. Kaino Robertson, 13. Andrea Masi, 12. Matteo Pratichetti, 11. Mirco Bergamasco, 10. Craig Gower, 9. Tito Tebaldi, 8. Sergio Parisse, 7. Alessandro Zanni, 6. Simone Favaro, 5. Quintin Geldenhuys, 4. Valerio Bernabo', 3. Martin Castrogiovanni, 2. Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1. Salvatore Perugini.
Substitutes: 16. Fabio Ongaro, 17. Lorenzo Cittadini, 18. Marco Bortolami, 19. Paul Derbyshire, 20. Simon Picone, 21. Riccardo Bocchino, 22. Gonzalo Canale.
