List of South Africa national rugby union team records

Summary

South Africa (known as the Springboks) area Rugby Union National Team that played their first international match in 1891.

The records listed below only include performances in Test matches. The top five are listed in each category (except when there is a tie for the last place among the five, when all the tied record holders are noted).

Team records edit

 
Jaque Fourie and Percy Montgomery (in green) playing for South Africa against Samoa.
Greatest winning margin[1]
Points margin (score) Opposing team Venue Year
131 (134–3) Uruguay Buffalo City Stadium, East London 2005
101 (101–0) Italy Kings Park Stadium, Durban 1999
92 (105–13) Namibia Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 2007
87 (87–0) Namibia North Harbour Stadium, Auckland 2011
83 (96–13) Wales Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 1998
Greatest losing margin[2]
Points margin (score) Opposing team Venue Year
57 (0-57) New Zealand QBE Stadium, Albany 2017
50 (3–53) England Twickenham Stadium, London 2002
49 (0–49) Australia Lang Park, Brisbane 2006
42 (15-57) New Zealand Kings Park Stadium,Durban 2016
36 (16–52) New Zealand Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 2003

Individual records edit

Most caps edit

# Name Period Caps Starts Subs Position
1 Victor Matfield 2001–2015 127 121 6 Lock
2 Bryan Habana 2004–2016 124 122 2 Wing
3 Eben Etzebeth 2012– 119 113 6 Lock
4 Tendai Mtawarira 2008–2019 117 102 15 Prop
5 John Smit 2000–2011 111 94 17 Hooker
6 Jean de Villiers 2002–2015 109 105 4 Centre
7 Percy Montgomery 1997–2008 102 90 12 Fullback
8 Willie le Roux 2013– 94 79 15 Fullback
9 Joost van der Westhuizen 1993–2003 89 78 11 Scrum-half
10 Ruan Pienaar 2006–2015 88 45 43 Scrum-half

Most points edit

# Player Period Points Caps Tries Con Pen DG Ave
1 Percy Montgomery 1997–2008 893 102 25 153 148 6 8.75
2 Morné Steyn 2009–2021 742 68 8 102 156 10 10.91
3 Handré Pollard 2014– 698 69 7 96 152 5 10.12
4 Bryan Habana 2004–2016 335 124 67 0 0 0 2.7
5 Elton Jantjies 2012– 331 46 2 66 62 1 7.2
6 Naas Botha 1980–1992 312 28 2 50 50 18 11.14
7 Joel Stransky 1993–1996 240 22 6 30 47 3 10.91
8 Braam van Straaten 1999–2001 221 21 2 23 55 0 10.52
9 Joost van der Westhuizen 1993–2003 190 89 38 0 0 0 2.13
10 Jannie de Beer 1997–1999 181 13 2 33 27 8 15.08

Most tries edit

# Name Period Tries Caps Ave. Position
1 Bryan Habana 2004–2017 67 124 54% Wing
2 Joost van der Westhuizen 1993–2003 38 89 42.7% Scrum-half
3 Jaque Fourie 2003–2013 32 72 44.4% Centre
4 Jean de Villiers 2002–2015 27 109 24.8% Centre
5 Makazole Mapimpi 2018– 26 41 63.4% Wing
Breyton Paulse 1997–2007 26 64 40.6% Wing
7 Percy Montgomery 1997–2008 25 102 24.5% Fullback
8 JP Pietersen 2006–2016 24 70 34.3% Wing
9 Pieter Rossouw 1997–2003 21 43 48.8% Wing
10 James Small 1992–1997 20 47 42.6% Wing

Most appearances as captain edit

# Name Period Apps Win % Position
1 John Smit 2003–2011 83 65.1% Hooker
2 Siya Kolisi 2018– 53 62.3% Flanker
3 Jean de Villiers 2012–2015 37 64.9% Centre
4 Gary Teichmann 1996–1999 36 72.2% Number 8
5 Francois Pienaar 1993–1996 29 65.5% Flanker

Match records edit

Most points in a match[3]
Points Player Opposing team Venue Year
35 Percy Montgomery Namibia Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 2007
34 Jannie de Beer England Stade de France, Saint-Denis 1999
31 Percy Montgomery Wales Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 1998
Morné Steyn New Zealand Kings Park Stadium, Durban 2009
Handré Pollard Argentina Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta 2019
Most tries in a match[4]
Tries Player Opposing team Venue Year
6 Tonderai Chavhanga Uruguay Buffalo City Stadium, East London 2005
5 Stefan Terblanche Italy Kings Park Stadium, Durban 1999
4 Chester Williams Samoa Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 1995
Pieter Rossouw France Parc des Princes, Paris 1997
Stefan Terblanche Ireland Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 1998
Bryan Habana Samoa Parc des Princes, Paris 2007
Jongi Nokwe Australia Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 2008

References edit

  1. ^ Statsguru / Ordered by: points difference (descending), Scrum, 4 October 2019.
  2. ^ Statsguru / Ordered by: points difference (reverse), Scrum, 4 October 2019.
  3. ^ Statsguru / Ordered by: total points scored in a match, Scrum, 4 October 2019.
  4. ^ Statsguru / Ordered by: total tries scored in a match, Scrum, 4 October 2019.