The Bok run on XV sports a total of 725 Test caps (358 in the backline and 367 in the forwards), with 136 caps on the bench. Read more for all Saturday’s Bok stats and facts …
South Africa and Australia have played each other 78 times since 1933, with the Springboks winning 44 Tests, losing 33, with 1 drawn.
The Springboks have scored 1 501 points and 179 tries against Australia and conceded 1 357 points and 139 tries for an average score of 19-17.
South Africa and Australia last met on 28 September 2013 at Newlands, when the Springboks won 28-8.
Bryan Habana will be playing in his 100th Test for South Africa, making him only the 4th Springbok in history to reach this milestone. The others are Victor Matfield (113), John Smit (111) and Percy Montgomery (102).
Habana will also extend his record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 98 Tests in this position and if he scores a try, will extend his record of 56 Test tries for South Africa as well as his Rugby Championship record of 18 tries and will extend his own SA record of 9 career tries against Australia.
Jean de Villiers will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok centre, with 83 Tests in this position. He will also extend his own SA record of 46 Rugby Championship games and will captain South Africa for the 27th time – fourth behind John Smit (83), Gary Teichmann (36) and Francois Pienaar (29).
Victor Matfield will extend his own record as the most capped Springbok in history (113 Tests). He will also be playing against Australia for the 25th time to become the sole holder of the record he shared with John Smit previously.
Morné Steyn will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok flyhalf, with 56 Tests in this position. If he scores a try, he will also extend his record of eight Test tries as a flyhalf for South Africa. Steyn scored 137 points in his career against Australia, just 3 points short of Percy Montgomery’s record of 140 points. He will also extend his own career record for most conversions (16), most penalty goals (32) and most drop goals (3) against Australia.
If he goes on and scores a try, Bismarck du Plessis will extend his own record of 8 test tries for South Africa as a hooker.
If he goes on Warren Whiteley will become Springbok No. 863.
The referee is George Clancy of Ireland and this will be his 9th Test involving South Africa. In the previous 8 matches South Africa have won 6 and lost 2. His last Test was on 7 September 2013 in the corresponding game of last year’s tournament at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane when the Springboks beat the Wallabies 38-12.
Springbok Test match records at Paterson Stadium, Perth (previously known as Subiaco Oval):
Most points – 15 by Joost van der Westhuizen (3t) against Uruguay on 11 October 2003.
Most tries – three by Joost van der Westhuizen against Uruguay on 11 October 2003.
Most conversions – five by Louis Koen against Uruguay on 11 October 2003.
Most penalty goals – three by Percy Montgomery against Australia on 18 July 1998; by Braam van Straaten against Australia on 18 August 2001; by Percy Montgomery against Australia on 31 July 2004 and by Percy Montgomery against Australia on 20 August, 2005.
Most drop goals – one by Percy Montgomery against Australia on 20 August 2005.
This will be the Springboks’ 10th Test overall at Patersons Stadium in Perth since 1998. In the previous nine, South Africa have won four, lost four and one was drawn. The Springboks have scored 214 points (24 tries) with 174 points against (16 tries). It is a winning percentage of 44% and an average score of 24-19.
