List of South Africa national rugby union team records

South Africa (known as the Springboks) are a 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

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
50 (3–53) England Twickenham Stadium, London 2002
49 (0–49) Australia Lang Park, Brisbane 2006
36 (16–52) New Zealand Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 2003
33 (7–40) New Zealand Westpac Stadium, Wellington 2011
28 (0–28) New Zealand Carisbrook, Dunedin 1999

Individual records

Most appearances[3]
Appearances Player Period
113 Victor Matfield 2001–Jun 2014
111 John Smit 2000–2011
102 Percy Montgomery 1997–2008
97 Bryan Habana 2004–Jun 2014
96 Jean de Villiers 2002–Oct 2013
89 Joost van der Westhuizen 1993–2003
80 Os du Randt 1994–2007
Most appearances as captain[4]
Appearances Player Period
83 John Smit 2003–2011
36 Gary Teichmann 1996–1999
29 François Pienaar 1993–1996
22 Dawie de Villiers 1965–1970
18 Corné Krige 1999–2003

Most tries[5]
Tries Player Period
55 Bryan Habana 2004–Jun 2014
38 Joost van der Westhuizen 1993–2003
32 Jaque Fourie 2003–2011
26 Breyton Paulse 1999–2007
25 Jean de Villiers 2002–Oct 2013
25 Percy Montgomery 1997–2008
Most points[6]
Points Player Period
893 Percy Montgomery 1997–2008
618 Morné Steyn 2009–Oct 2013
312 Naas Botha 1980–1992
265 Bryan Habana 2004–Oct 2013
240 Joel Stransky 1993–1996

Most points in a match[7]
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
31 Morné Steyn New Zealand Kings Park Stadium, Durban 2009
30 Tonderai Chavhanga Uruguay Buffalo City Stadium, East London 2005
Hat-tricks[8]
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
4 Pieter Rossouw France Parc des Princes, Paris 1997
4 Stefan Terblanche Ireland Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 1998
4 Bryan Habana Samoa Parc des Princes, Paris 2007
4 Jongi Nokwe Australia Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 2008
3 Boetie McHardy Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 1912
3 Jan Stegmann Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 1912
3 Tom van Vollenhoven British and Irish Lions Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 1955
3 Hennie van Zyl Australia Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 1961
3 Ray Mordt New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland 1981
3 Ray Mordt United States Owl Creek Polo Field, Glenville 1981
3 Danie Gerber South American Jaguars Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 1982
3 Danie Gerber England Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 1984
3 Gavin Johnson Samoa Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 1995
3 Joost van der Westhuizen Wales National Stadium, Cardiff 1996
3 Andre Snyman Tonga Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 1997
3 Pieter Rossouw Wales Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 1998
3 Breyton Paulse Italy EPRFU Stadium, Port Elizabeth 1999
3 Deon Kayser Italy Kings Park Stadium, Durban 1999
3 Joost van der Westhuizen Uruguay Subiaco Oval, Perth 2003
3 Marius Joubert New Zealand Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 2004
3 Schalk Burger Namibia Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 2007
3 Juan Smith Namibia Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 2007
3 Bryan Habana Australia Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 2012

References

  1. ↑ Statsguru / Ordered by: points difference (descending), Scrum, 28 September 2010.
  2. ↑ Statsguru / Ordered by: points difference (reverse), Scrum, 28 September 2010.
  3. ↑ "Statsguru / Test matches / Player records (Primary team: South Africa; Ordered by: total matches played". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Statsguru / Test matches / Player records (Primary team: South Africa; Ordered by: total matches played as captain)". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ Statsguru / Ordered by: total points scored in a match, Scrum, 28 September 2010.
  8. ↑ Statsguru / Ordered by: total tries scored in a match, Scrum, 28 September 2010.