Eight Springbok stats and facts

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For the Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies at Newlands on Saturday.

  • The Springbok starting team boasts a total of 615 Test caps (274 in the backline and 341 in the forwards), while there are a further 314 caps worth of experience on the bench.
  • South Africa and Australia have played each other 79 times since 1933, with the Springboks winning 44 Tests, losing 34 and drawing one. The Boks have scored 1,524 points and 180 tries and conceded 1,381 points and 141 tries for an average score of 19-17.
  • Jean de Villiers will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok centre, with 85 Tests in this position. He will also extend his South African record of 48 Tri-Nations/Rugby Championship matches and will captain South Africa for the 29th time, which places him equal third with Francois Pienaar. John Smit (83) and Gary Teichmann (36) are the only players to have captained South Africa on more occasions.
  • Victor Matfield will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok in history (115 Tests). He will also extend his record of 115 Tests as a lock and will be playing against Australia for the 26th time to extend his record.
  • Bryan Habana will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 100 Tests in this position. If he scores a try, he will extend his record of 56 Test tries for South Africa as well as his Tri-Nations/Rugby Championship record of 18 tries.
  • If he comes off the bench, Cobus Reinach will become Springbok No 864. He and his late father Jaco (No 542) will become the 12th pair of father and sons to represent South Africa, the previous pair being Flip and Flippie van der Merwe. Jaco, who played four Tests for South Africa in 1986 against the New Zealand Cavaliers, was a double Springbok – in rugby and athletics.
  • If he appears and scores a try, Bismarck du Plessis will extend his record of nine Test tries for South Africa as a hooker.
  • The referee is Nigel Owens of Wales. This will be his 11th Test involving South Africa. The Springboks have won six and lost four of the previous Tests in which he has officiated. The last time he was in charge of the Boks was in the Test against New Zealand on 5 October 2013 at Ellis Park, which the visitors won 38-27.

Preview: Springboks vs Wallabies

Photo: Rory Keohane/HSM Images

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