For Saturday's Rugby Championship match against New Zealand in Christchurch.
– The total Test caps in the starting lineup are 488 – of this, 210 caps are in the backline with 278 among the forwards. The combined Test caps of those on the bench are 133. The average caps per player in the match 23 are 21.
– The youngest player in the squad is Jesse Kriel (22 years and seven months), while the oldest member of the team is Bryan Habana (33 years and three months).
– The tallest player in the squad is Eben Etzebeth (2.04m), the shortest Faf de Klerk (1.72m), the heaviest Steven Kitshoff (125kg) and the lightest Faf de Klerk (80kg).
– The following players will play in their seventh consecutive match in the starting XV under Allister Coetzee’s reign: Faf de Klerk, Francois Louw, Eben Etzebeth, Adriaan Strauss and Tendai Mtawarira.
– Bryan Habana is the top try-scorer (seven) for South Africa against New Zealand, with Morné Steyn the top point-scorer with one try, 10 conversions, 31 penalty goals and two drop goals for a total of 124 career points in 11 appearances against the All Blacks.
– This Test match will be the 800th rugby match the Springboks play against international opposition. It is the 459th Test match for South Africa. Since the first tour to the British Isles & Ireland in 1906, 341 official non-test matches were played by the Springboks.
– Bryan Habana will become the most-capped Springbok in the tournament (51 appearances), thereby surpassing Jean de Villiers’s 50 career appearances. It will also be his 120th Test match as a wing in the green and gold, which is a world record.
– Eben Etzebeth will play in his 28th consecutive Test match (all in the lock position) and thereby equal the record of Victor Matfield for most consecutive Test appearances as a lock.
– Morné Steyn needs three successful penalty goals to equal Percy Montgomery’s career record of 148 penalty goals in Test matches. He is also co-record holder with four drop goals in his Rugby Championship career, the other players being Dan Carter of New Zealand and fellow Springbok André Pretorius.
– Malcolm Marx could make his Test and Championship debut, should he be used off the bench. He will then be Springbok No 876.
– Faf de Klerk and Pieter-Steph du Toit will play their first Test match against the All Blacks. Lourens Adriaanse, Steven Kitshoff, Jaco Kriel, Malcolm Marx and Franco Mostert could also make their first appearance against New Zealand should they be required as replacements.
