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Springboks vs All Blacks – 9 Things You Need To Know

Check out everything you need to know ahead of the colossal clash in Johannesburg this weekend.

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The Springboks are gearing up to face their bitter rivals New Zealand for the 90th time this Saturday in the second round of the condensed Rugby Championship tournament; and there are 

• The Springbok starting team boasts a total of 663 Test caps (289 in the backline and 374 in the forwards), while there are a further 153 caps worth of experience on the bench.

• South Africa and New Zealand have played each other 89 times since 1921, with the Springboks winning 35, losing 51 and three were drawn. The Springboks have scored 1,392 points and 137 tries and conceded 1,718 points and 181 tries for an average score of 16-19.

• South Africa and New Zealand last met on 4 October 2014 at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. The Springboks beat New Zealand by 27-25 thanks to a late 55 metre penalty from the boot of replacement flyhalf Patrick Lambie. 

Schalk Burger will become South Africa’s 55th Springbok captain in history. 

Bryan Habana will extend his own record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 106 caps in this position. If he scores a try he will extend his own record of 57 Test tries for South Africa as well as most Test tries against New Zealand (7) and the Castle Lager Rugby Championship record of 18 tries. 

• If he scores a try, Bismarck du Plessis will extend his record of nine Test tries for South Africa as a hooker. He will also extend his SA record of 40 Tests (22 in the starting line-up) with his brother Jannie and 17 Tests with Jannie and Tendai Mtawarira as the starting front row pairing for SA. 

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• If he goes on, Vincent Koch will become Springbok #868 in history. 

• It will be Heyneke Meyer’s 39th Test in charge of the Springboks since he took over in 2012. Of the previous 38 Tests South Africa have won 26, lost ten and drew twice. He is third now on the all-time list with only Peter de Villiers (48) and Jake White (54) in front of him. 

• The referee is Jerome Garces of France. It will be his fifth Test involving South Africa. Of the previous four South Africa have won three and lost one. His last appearance was in November 2014 against Italy in Padova when the Boks won 22-6. 

Teams:

Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger (c), 7 Francois Louw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe.

All Blacks – 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 James Broadhursts, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Subs: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Victor Vito, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.

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9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Avatar

    james

    July 24, 2015 at 10:58

    very happy to see Heinrich Brüssow back in the squad. Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende did a great job last week. Time in the squad against proper opposition will be great against the World Cup.

    I really hope our line out holds up against the all blacks. They are playing smart rugby, so im sure if we do win it, they wont contest us in the mall.

  2. Avatar

    james

    July 24, 2015 at 10:59

    Oh yes… i seriously hope we dont try play a kicking game

    • Avatar

      GregZA

      July 24, 2015 at 12:37

      Lets be serious, they will play a kicking game and if it’s not working they’ll revert to an even worse kicking game.

  3. Avatar

    jhb_boet

    July 24, 2015 at 11:04

    “Emirates Airline Park” – I mean really now, call it what it is: The Fortress of Carnage.

    • Jeremy Proome

      Jeremy Proome

      July 24, 2015 at 11:34

      Hahaha, Yes!!

    • Avatar

      GregZA

      July 24, 2015 at 12:34

      So someone is a Lions supporter?

  4. Avatar

    GregZA

    July 24, 2015 at 12:36

    Im going with the All Blacks by a comfortable 10 points

    • Avatar

      jhb_boet

      July 28, 2015 at 17:16

      Sometimes I like to go back and look at articles ive commented on and see if i was right. not far off. well done me.

  5. Avatar

    Stefan Reinecke

    July 24, 2015 at 21:15

    Vincent Koch has been a fairy tale of note. A player coming from a “second rated” provincial team and on pure performance alone played himself into a Springbok squad.

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