South African rugby union captains
Every player to captain the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) in a test match are listed here. Captains are listed in chronological order of their first match as captain.
Male
So far there has been 53 captains of the male Springbok team, with H.H. Castens captaining South Africa on 30 July 1891 in their first ever test against the touring British Isles team at Crusaders Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth. Jean de Villiers is the current captain, while John Smit was the last Springbok World Cup winning captain and also holds the record of the most capped captain in international rugby history.
| _ | Player[1] | Years as Captain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | H.H. Castens | 1891 |
| 2 | Bob Sneddon | 1891 |
| 3 | Alf Richards | 1891 |
| 4 | Ferdie Aston | 1896 |
| 5 | Fairy Heatlie | 1896-1903 |
| 6 | Alex Frew | 1903 |
| 7 | Jackie Powell | 1903 |
| 8 | Paddy Carolin | 1906 |
| 9 | Paul Roos | 1906 |
| 10 | Dougie Morkel | 1910 & 1913 |
| 11 | Billy Millar | 1910 - 1913 |
| 12 | Uncle Dobbin | 1912 |
| 13 | Boy Morkel | 1921 |
| 14 | PK Albertyn | 1924 |
| 15 | Phil Mostert | 1928 |
| 16 | Bennie Osler | 1931 - 1933 |
| 17 | Phil Nel | 1933 - 1937 |
| 18 | Danie Craven | 1937 - 1938 |
| 19 | Felix du Plessis | 1949 |
| 20 | Basil Kenyon | 1949 |
| 21 | Hennie Muller | 1951 - 1953 |
| 22 | Stephen Fry | 1955 |
| 23 | Basie Viviers | 1956 |
| 24 | Salty du Rand | 1956 |
| 25 | Johan Claassen | 1958 & 1961 - 1962 |
| 26 | Des van Jaarsveldt | 1960 |
| 27 | Roy Dryburgh | 1960 |
| 28 | Avril Malan | 1960 - 1961, 1963 & 1965 |
| 29 | Abie Malan | 1963 - 1964 |
| 30 | Nelie Smith | 1964 - 1965 |
| 31 | Dawie de Villiers | 1965 - 1970 |
| 32 | Tommy Bedford | 1969 |
| 33 | Hannes Marais | 1971 - 1974 |
| 34 | Piet Greyling | 1972 |
| 35 | Morné du Plessis | 1975 - 1980 |
| 36 | Theunis Stofberg | 1980, 1981 & 1984 |
| 37 | Wynand Claassen | 1981 - 1983 |
| 38 | Divan Serfontein | 1984 |
| 39 | Naas Botha | 1986 & 1992 |
| 40 | Jannie Breedt | 1989 |
| 41 | Francois Pienaar | 1993 - 1996 |
| 42 | Tiaan Strauss | 1994 |
| 43 | Adriaan Richter | 1995 |
| 44 | Gary Teichmann | 1996 - 1999 |
| 45 | Corné Krige | 1999 & 2002 - 2003 |
| 46 | Rassie Erasmus | 1999 |
| 47 | Joost van der Westhuizen | 1999 & 2003 |
| 48 | André Vos | 1999 - 2001 |
| 49 | Bobby Skinstad | 2001 - 2002 & 2007 |
| 50 | John Smit | 2003 - 2011 |
| 51 | Victor Matfield | 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014 |
| 52 | Johann Muller | 2007 |
| 53 | Jean de Villiers | 2012 - incumbent |
Female
The South Africa women's national rugby union team, also called the Springboks, first played internationally in 2004, with a two match series against Wales held in South Africa. The first match was played at Adcock Stadium, Port Elizabeth on 29 May 2004, and resulted in a 5–8 loss.
| _ | Player | Years as Captain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nomsebenzi Tsotsobe | 2004 – 2010(?) |