As the Springboks prepare to close their 2021 Rugby Championship campaign with a rematch against the All Blacks on Saturday, here are some of the numbers from the competition and this great rivalry.
– Boks v All Blacks: Played 100, SA won 36, lost 60, drawn 4, points for 1594, points against 2069, tries scored 154, tries conceded 226, highest score 46 pts, biggest winning margin 17 pts.
– New Zealand have lost only one of their last 11 Tests against South Africa (W9, D1), and are undefeated in their last four meetings (W3, D1) – only one of those four matches was decided by a margin of more than two points.
– New Zealand have lost only one of their 12 Tests in Australia against teams other than the Wallabies (W11), a 25-15 defeat to Argentina in November 2020.
– South Africa boast the best lineout (89%) and scrum success-rate (97%) of any team in the 2021 edition of the Rugby Championship. However, the Springboks are the only team yet to score a try from a scrum in the tournament this year.
– Bok hooker Malcolm Marx has a 92% success-rate on his lineout throws in the Rugby Championship this year (33/36) which is the best rate of any player to make at least three throws.
– Sbu Nkosi, Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx each need one more try to get to take their Test tally to 10 tries and 50 points.
– This encounter will be Siya Kolisi’s 30th Test match as captain, surpassing Francois Pienaar to become the fourth most-capped Springbok captain behind John Smit (83), Jean de Villiers (37), and Gary Teichmann (36).
– Frans Steyn needs to score nine points to reach 150 Test points.
– The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 647.
– There are 272 caps in the backline with 375 caps in the pack. On the bench there are a further 305 caps.
– The average caps per back is 38 and per forward is 46. The players on the bench average 38.
– All Blacks flanker Ardie Savea has made three try-assists, the most by any player in the tournament.
