Springboks in Cardiff for Wales Test: 10 facts and figures

The Springboks play their 13th Test of the year on Saturday, when they take on Wales in Cardiff, with Rassie Erasmus and his team seeking an 11th win in 2024.

Here are 10 interesting stats and facts about the Boks ahead of Saturday’s Test.

Saturday’s match will be the Boks’ 101st match on British and Irish soil since the first tour in 1906 – including matches in the two Rugby World Cups held on the islands. Of those 100 matches, 66 have been won and three drawn while 31 have been lost. The most wins (20) have come against Wales; while the most defeats have been suffered against England (11).

Lock Eben Etzebeth, who has been named on the bench for the Cardiff match, will extend his Bok record as the most capped player to 131 caps if he takes the field.

The Boks’ fourth try against England last Saturday was the 50th of the season – the most the Boks have scored in a non-Rugby World Cup season since 1997 (when 74 tries were scored in 13 Tests).

Should the Boks win, it will be their 55th in 78 matches since Rassie Erasmus returned (with Jacques Nienaber) in 2018 for a winning percentage of 70,5% over the past seven seasons (no matches were played in 2020), completing the raising of the team’s historic winning record by more than one whole percentage point from 62,47% to 63,60%.

Should the Boks win, it will be their 11th victory from 13 matches in the year for a winning percentage of 84,6% – repeating the feat of 2023 – and the highest seasonal percentage achieved since 1998 when 11 of 12 matches were won for a percentage of 91,7%.

A win or a draw for the Boks would complete the first undefeated northern hemisphere tour since 2013. They have so far beaten Scotland and England on this tour.

The brothers Hendrikse, Jaden (scrumhalf) and Jordan (flyhalf), will start for the Boks for the first time on Saturday, the first set of brothers to appear together since Dan and Robert du Preez featured against Wales in Washington at the start of the 2018 season.

Jean Kleyn (lock) will become the 51st player to represent the Boks this season, while bench-sitter Cameron Hanekom, who is in line to make his Bok debut, will become the 52nd player to feature for the team, should he enter the action.

The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up on Saturday is 539. There are 256 caps in the backline, with 283 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 431 caps.

The Boks and Wales have met 42 times, with the Boks winning 34, losing seven and drawing once. The biggest score recorded was 96-13 for the Boks, while they also enjoy a winning percentage of 80.9%.