Stats and facts: Key figures ahead of Boks v England battle
Check out some of the facts and figures to keep in mind when the Boks and England face off at Twickenham on Saturday.
The last time the Springboks beat England in London was in 2014, when they edged the hosts 31-28, but they have won three of their last six outings against their northern hemisphere arch-rivals – the most recent being the Rugby World Cup final in Yokohama in 2019.
On that occasion, the Boks emerged as 32-12 victors to claim their World Cup winners medal, with many of the players involved in that memorable title decider now set to re-engage in battle more than two years later.
REWIND: LAST FIVE MATCHES BETWEEN BOKS AND ENGLAND – WATCH
The two teams have been playing each other in Test rugby since 1906, and, by November 2019, had met in 43 Test matches, with South Africa enjoying a favourable record as they get set to reignite their rivalry with England this Saturday.
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Springbok record against England:
Played 43; Won 26; Lost 15; Drawn 2; Points for 919; Points against 729; Tries scored 85; Tries conceded 54; Highest score 58; Biggest win 48; Win % 60.5%
KEY TAKEAWAYS: WHY BOKS OPTED TO START POLLARD, KRIEL
Match stats:
- Handré Pollard needs 14 more points to reach 600 career points for the Springboks.
- Frans Steyn needs three more points to reach 150 career points for the Springboks.
- Makazole Mapimpi is one try short of 20 Test tries and 100 Test points.
- Bongi Mbonambi needs one try to reach 10 tries and 50 career points.
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Miscellaneous:
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 705.
- There are 306 caps in the backline with 399 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 329 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline are 43, the forwards 49, while the players on the bench average 41.
FULL LIST: MAPIMPI’S REMARKABLE TRY-SCORING RECORD