Short of an appearance by the ghost of Eamonn Andrews, big red book in hand, there's not much more that could happen to Massimo Cuttitta at Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld ground on Saturday to persuade the 46-year-old that he was reliving selected moments from his life up to this point.

In summary, the Scotland scrum coach, who grew up in South Africa and played for Italy will find himself in the odd and potentially unsettling position of watching his Scotland charges take on Italy in South Africa. For anyone else, a conflict of loyalties – or at least a good-going identity crisis – might ensue but Cuttitta has his colours firmly nailed to the Scotland mast these days so there is no question where his affections will lie.

His accent is still a curious hybrid of South African and Italian – probably more of the former in fact – but his heart is solidly with Scotland. Even so, when the Scots pitched up in Durban a couple of weeks ago and began their preparations to face Samoa, Cuttitta still managed to slip away at one point to visit the house where he grew up and pop into his old school to say hello to some former teachers.

None of which made losing 30-17 to the Springboks last weekend any easier to bear. "It would have been important for me to beat South Africa," he said quietly. "This is where I played my [youth] rugby and where I progressed and learned everything. So it would have been good for me to win. At the same time I was proud of how all the boys represented all the coaches on the field. They did us proud. It was good for me."

He could be especially proud of the fact the Scots stood up so well in the physical battle with the Springboks, the one area of the game where they would once have expected to come off a distant second best. And all the more so as they did so in the face of such adversity, after the pack – and the front row in particular – had been ravaged by a series of injuries.

Their dubious reward is a heightened level of expectation as they prepare for the third and final match of the Castle Lager Incoming series, and an encounter with an Italian side that is likely to be just as exhausting as their previous outings against South Africa and Samoa.

Italy have failed to fire in their matches with those two sides, but Cuttitta, who won 69 caps for the Azzuri in his decade of Test rugby between 1990 and 2000, is well aware that they could easily find their spark and rediscover the form that brought wins against France and Ireland in this year's Six Nations.

"South Africa were surprised by our physicality, by our determination to go out there and win," he said. "Against the Boks, we did not let them play. We were on the ball. We were tackling. We were doing everything Johnno [coach Scott Johnson] wanted us to do. We were really good.

"But if we go in there against Italy with a bad attitude we will not win. It is something we are working on. I have 100% trust in the boys that they will pitch up. The mentality of the boys has changed a lot. It is not like four years ago. The boys will go on the field regardless of who is playing and give everything."

They pretty much had to against South Africa as their backs were firmly against the wall. For the previous weekend's game against Samoa, Johnson had chosen a front row of Ryan Grant, Pat MAcArthur and Euan Murray, but with Grant whisked off by the Lions and MacArthur ruled out by injury, Murray was the last man standing when the team was picked to face the Springboks.

Still, if you had to rely on anyone then Murray would not be a bad choice. From time to time you still hear the silly suggestion that the prop's refusal to play on Sundays for religious reasons represents a lack of commitment to Scotland's cause, but Cuttitta will not hear a word against a player he considers to be the cornerstone of his pack.

"What a character," Cuttitta enthused. "He is a leader, he leads without talking and he leads on the field. He is an extraordinary character. Even with a bad hamstring he played the whole game [against South Africa] at a good level. These are the boys that make Scotland a big nation.

"He would give everything for the team and the boys. And he did. It was not easy for him last week, and he went through some hard moments, but he took the field against South Africa. He pitched up. It shows that is one of the hearts of this team."

Cuttitta hinted that Fraser Brown, who was picked – though not used – as replacement hooker against South Africa despite not having started a professional match, could yet get some game time against Italy. However, in acknowledging the potential of Brown, he also had huge praise for Scott Lawson, another who was not selected for the original squad, who put in a tireless 80-minute shift in the No.2 jersey.

He said: "[Scott] went through a bad patch and has come back. He came through the game well, really determined. He knows he has to back that up. It is a good thing for Scott to come back. We are delighted he came back in such an excellent way."