Here are some stats and facts in preparation for the highly anticipated 100th Test between the Springboks and All Blacks in Townsville on Saturday.
– Played 99, won 36, lost 59, drawn 4, points for 1,577, points against 2,050, tries scored 153, tries conceded 225, highest score 46 points, biggest win 17 points, win rate 36%.
– South Africa’s 36% win rate against the All Blacks in Tests is the highest of any team to have faced them and 10 percentage points higher than next-best-ranked Australia (26%);
however, the Springboks have won only one of their last 10 meetings with the All Blacks (D1, L8).
– This will be the 100th Test match between South Africa and New Zealand.
– The average score for the 99 Tests is 21-16 in favour of New Zealand.
– Trevor Nyakane will play in his 50th Test match – he made his debut in 2013 as a replacement against Italy in Durban.
– The total Test caps for the Springbok starting lineup is 673.
– There are 265 caps in the backline with 408 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 300 caps.
– The average caps per player in the backline are 37, the forwards 51 while the players on the bench average 37.
– New Zealand have won their last nine consecutive men’s Tests heading into this fixture; the last time they enjoyed a longer winning streak was in October 2016 when they won an 18th
consecutive Test by defeating Australia 37-10.
– South Africa come into this fixture on the back of two straight defeats by tournament hosts Australia. The last time the Springboks lost more than two consecutive Tests was a four-game
stretch from October to November in 2016, which began with a 57-15 loss to New Zealand.
– South Africa have won four of their six previous Tests in Australia against teams other than the Wallabies (L2); although, their last defeat in such a fixture came in November 2003 by New Zealand with the scoreline 29-9.
– New Zealand have scored seven tries on possession begun after winning a turnover in the 2021 edition of the Rugby Championship; only twice since the 2017 campaign has any team scored more tries via this method in a single campaign (New Zealand 11 in 2017, New Zealand 8 in 2019).
– South Africa have retained possession from 31 kicks in play in the Rugby Championship in 2021 – 20 more than any other team in the competition (New Zealand 11, Australia 7, Argentina 6).
– South Africa have a higher success rate at both the lineout (88%) and the scrum (96%) than any other team so far in the 2021 edition of the Rugby Championship.
– South Africa duo Lood De Jager (3) and Eben Etzebeth (2) are two of the three players to have stolen multiple lineouts in the 2021 edition alongside Argentina’s Guido Petti (3).
– Beauden Barrett will be playing his 15th Test against South Africa and Brodie Retallick his 12th. Eight players (Akira Ioane, Luke Jacobson, David Havili, Will Jordan, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Ethan Blackadder, Brad Weber and Quinn Tupaea) will be playing them for the first time.
– New Zealand quartet Jordie Barrett (9), Akira Ioane (8), David Havili (7), and Rieko Ioane (7) have beaten more defenders in their opponent’s half of the field in the Rugby Championship in 2021 than any other players in the competition.
Photo: Mark Tantrum/Getty Images
