Stats and facts for Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener between the Springboks and Wallabies at Ellis Park.
– South Africa have lost only one of their last five Tests against Australia, however, two of those meetings ended in a draw.
– This will be the 11th meeting between South Africa and Australia at Ellis Park, with the Springboks winning nine of the previous 10 clashes at the venue.
– South Africa have won 13 of their last 16 games played at Ellis Park, including their last three on the bounce across which they’ve scored an average of 36 points per game.
– South Africa have won only three of their last 10 games in the Rugby Championship (two draws and five defeats), including a last-start two-point defeat by New Zealand.
– Australia will be looking to secure back-to-back Rugby Championship wins for the first time since 2016 after ending their 2018 campaign with a 45-34 win over Argentina.
– Australia’s win rate of 24% when playing in South Africa is their lowest against any nation and is indeed the lowest win rate of any of the six nations to have played more than 20 Tests there.
– South Africa have scored 22 drop goals in the Rugby Championship, as many as all three other teams combined (Australia nine, New Zealand nine, Argentina four).
– Dane Haylett-Petty (Australia) gained 397 metres in the Rugby Championship in 2018, the most of any player and 130 more than South Africa’s best, Siya Kolisi (267).
– Willie le Roux, along with New Zealand’s Beauden Barrett, produced the joint-most try assists (five) in the Rugby Championship last year, three more than any Australian player managed.
– Pieter-Steph du Toit made the most tackles (83) of any player in the Rugby Championship last season, 33 more than the leading player in Australia’s 2019 squad, Michael Hooper (50).
Photo: Matt Roberts/Getty Images
