For Saturday's Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Salta.
– The total Test caps in the starting lineup is 432 – 160 in the backline and 272 in the forwards – with 95 on the bench. The average caps per player for the match 23 is 19.
– Adriaan Strauss will be captaining the side for the fifth time in his 59th Test.
– The youngest player in the 23-man squad is Jesse Kriel (22 years, five months) while the oldest member of the team is Bryan Habana (33 years, two months).
– The tallest player in the squad is Lood de Jager (2.05m), the shortest is Faf de Klerk (1.72m), the heaviest is Steven Kitshoff (125kg) and the lightest is Faf de Klerk (80kg).
– The following players will play in their fifth consecutive Test in the starting XV under Allister Coetzee: Lionel Mapoe, Damian de Allende, Faf de Klerk, Francois Louw, Eben Etzebeth, Adriaan Strauss and Beast Mtawarira.
– For 60% of the squad it will be a first visit to Argentina to play in a Rugby Championship Test. Lourens Adriaanse and Bongi Mbonambi are the two players who have not faced Argentina in a Test yet.
– Bryan Habana is the most capped Springbok (13 Tests) as well as the top try-scorer (seven) for South Africa against Argentina while Morné Steyn is the top point-scorer with 15 conversions and 16 penalty goals for a total of 78 career points in only six appearances against the Pumas.
– Bryan Habana, Eben Etzebeth, Adriaan Strauss and Beast Mtawarira are the only players that played in all eight Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina since they joined the tournament in 2012.
– Bryan Habana needs one try to extend his own tournament career record to 20, which will be 100 tournament career points. One try will also extend his own world record for most test tries as a wing to 65. He needs two appearances in this tournament to reach 50 tournament appearances.
– Eben Etzebeth will play in his 26th consecutive Test.
– Beast Mtawarira will play in his 80th Test thereby equalling Os du Randt’s record for most Tests as a prop for the Springboks.
– Morné Steyn needs six points to reach 700 career points in Tests. He also needs six successful penalty goals to equal Percy Montgomery’s career record of 148 penalty goals in Tests. Only two points will bring his Rugby Championship career points to 350. He is also co-record holder with four drop goals in his Rugby Championship career, with Dan Carter of New Zealand and fellow Springbok André Pretorius.
– Possible Rugby Championship debuts for Bongi Mbonambi, Lourens Adriaanse and Rudy Paige, should they be used off the bench.
