Did you know Springboks Rugby Facts?

Jul 2 • International, Springbok Hall of Fame, Springbok News, Springboks • 45919 Views • Comments Off on Did you know Springboks Rugby Facts?

First ever Springbok team, the 1906 ‘Springboks’ rugby team. (south african rugby union national team)

DID YOU KNOW?

Barry John was the first International player to be replaced (substituted), British Lions vs Springboks, the Replacement of injured players was added to the 1968-69 Laws (law 12) of up to two players per team. Piet Uys replaced Dawie de Villiers as first medical replacement at Ellispark against the Wallabies on 2 August 1969.
Medical replacements came into place in 1969 & tactical replacements started 1996.
Herbert Hayton Castens was the first Springbok cricket & rugby captain.
Paul Roos was the first Springbok captain as they where only called “Springboks” since 1906.
South Africa (Springboks) has never lost in a IRB Rugby World Cup Final.
Chris Koch only Springbok to play for 3 decades.
Springbok players that beat the All Blacks 4 times in one year was Victor Matfield & Fourie du Preez, also in 1949 the following Springbok players also beat the All Blacks 4 times in same year namely Jack van der Schyff, Tjol Lategan, Hannes Brewis, Jorrie Jordaan, Okey Geffin, Bubbles Koch & Hennie Muller.
Since the Springboks inception at IRB Rugby World Cup in 1995, the mighty All Blacks has never again won the Webb Ellis Trophy.
The Springboks are one of only two teams since 1987 who have managed to win the Webb Ellis Cup twice.
In 2009, the Springboks beat the New Zealand (All Blacks) in all three tests they played against each other.
In more than 100 years of test rugby, no one has ever scored a hat trick of tries against the Springboks.
Legendary Springbok Prop Os du Randt is one of only four players to have won the Rugby World Cup twice. The others are Australians (Wallabies) John Eales, Tim Horan & Jason Little.
On 25 September 1937, the Springboks clinched their first-ever series victory in New Zealand by beating the All Blacks 17 – 6 at Eden Park in Auckland.
The Springboks have never lost to Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Namibia, Romania, Spain, Tonga, USA, Uruguay, Argentina, Portugal or Samoa.
Two players, Christian Stewart & Tiaan Strauss, have played both For & Against the Springboks.
South Africa played their first test in 1891 in Port Elizabeth against the British Isles, and lost 0-4.
Percy Montgomery is the first Springbok to have played in 100 tests. He retired in 2008 after a record 102 tests & 893 points in the Springbok jersey. Victor Matfield & John Smit also have 100 test caps now.
Ten sets of fathers and sons have played for South Africa, the most recent being Hennie & Andries Bekker.
The wives of twelve Springboks have represented South Africa in other sports, the most recent being Hannelie du Randt, wife of Os, as a swimmer.
Francois Pienaar, led the South African national team, the Springboks, to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the first major tournament held in post-apartheid South Africa. Pienaar was praised by Pres. Nelson Mandela for his leadership of the team and his attempts to reach out to all sectors of South African society.
In 1949 Danie Craven became selector & manager/coach of the Springboks & he served in that capacity for several years. In 1956 he became president of the South African Rugby Board (SARB), a position he held until his death in 1993. In 1959 he was elevated to chairman of the International Rugby Football Board (IRB).
Tom Van Vollenhoven (Karel Thomas Van Vollenhoven), born April 29, 1935, Bethlehem, South Africa. He is Springbok rugby player who reached the pinnacle of success in both Rugby Union & Rugby League. He played on the wing for the Springboks, in 1955 against the British Lions (known as the British & Irish Lions) & during its 1956 tour of New Zealand. Against the Lions at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, he became the first Springbok to perform a hat trick (score three tries) on home soil.
In 2005, the Springboks scored 134 points against Uruguay in East London, their most in a test ever.
Joost van der Westhuizen scored 38 tries in 89 tests for the Springboks.
Percy Montgomery & Naas Botha are the only Springboks who have kicked 50 or more conversions in tests.
After scoring for the Springboks in 2004, Victor Matfield had to wait 57 Tests before scoring for the Boks again in 2009.
The Springboks have won 15 out of 18 Tests at neutral venues.
The first drawn Test for South Africa was on 26 August 1903 against the British Lions in Johannesburg (10 – 10).
South Africa scored 10 tries in their 38 – 0 victory over Ireland in Dublin in 1912.
The Springboks have drawn 19 Tests between 1891 & 2010.
The Springboks have never lost to Argentina.
South Africa’s first Test victory was on 5 September 1896 against the British Lions at Newlands in Cape Town. The score was 5 – 0.
The Springboks’ first overseas victory was on 24 November 1906 against Ireland in Belfast. The score was 15 – 12.
In 1910, the Springboks beat the British Lions 2 – 1 in South Africa.
Springboks Jannie du Plessis, Brendan Venter, Divan Serfontein, Chris Pope, Dr Edrich Krantz, Uli Schmidt, Dr Daan du Plessis, Derick van den Berg & Ian Mc Cullum are all medical doctors.
At 893, Percy Montgomery has scored the most test points ever in a Springbok jersey
Former Springboks Felix & Morné du Plessis are to date the only Father-Son combination to both Captain the Springboks
The late Jaco Reinach was a Springbok wing in four tests and represented South Africa in track and field.
Schalk Burger was the IRB International Player of the Year in 2004.
Between 1984 & 1986 Springbok centre Danie Gerber scored tries in six successive tests for the Boks, scoring a hat trick twice!
Garry Pagel, Rudolf Straeuli & Brendan Venter were used as Springbok replacements in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Finals.
The quickest try ever scored in a Bok test was by Fourie du Preez against the All Blacks in Wellington in 2006. Du Preez scored in 15 seconds!
Peter Cronje scored the first four-point try for the Boks in the last test against the British & Irish Lions at Ellis Park in 1974.
Tonderai Chavhanga’s six tries against Uruguay in East London in 2005 is the most in one test by a Springbok.
Five Boks – Chester Williams, Pieter Rossouw, Stefan Terblanche, Bryan Habana and Jongi Nokwe – have scored four tries in one test.
Percy Montgomery holds the Springbok record for the most conversions in one test: In 2007, he converted 12 tries against Namibia at Newlands.
Gavin Johnson, Johan Roux and Naka Drotske were the unused Springbok replacements in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final.
Bismarck du Plessis and Wikus van Heerden were used as Springbok replacements in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final.
George Daneel is the only Springbok to ever reach the ripe old age of 100. He was born on 29 August 1904, played eight tests between 1928 and 1932 and passed away on 19 October 2004.
Between 23 August 1997 & 28 November 1998, the Boks won 17 successive test matches.
Johan Ackermann, at 37 years & 34 days old, was the oldest Springbok to ever play in a test match. The game was on 7 July 2007 against the Wallabies.
On 22 September 2007, the Boks had a combined total of 311 test caps on the bench when they faced Tonga at the Rugby World Cup. The reserves were John Smit, BJ Botha, Victor Matfield, Juan Smith, Bryan Habana, Francois Steyn and Percy Montgomery.
Morné du Plessis & his dad, Felix, both captained the Boks.
Morné du Plessis captained the Boks to 13 victories in 15 tests.
Jaque Fourie has scored tries against each of the 16 opposing nations he has faced in tests for the Boks.
The first time the Boks managed to score more than 50 points in a single test was against Western Samoa at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Danie Gerber scored 19 tries in his 33 tests for the Boks, the best Springbok try-scoring ratio.
With six tries, Joost van der Westhuizen is the Springbok who has crossed the All Blacks’ try-line the most in tests.
Three Springboks have scored hat tricks of tries against the All Blacks, although Bryan Habana scored his tries playing for the Barbarians. The others are Ray Mordt & Marius Joubert.
John Smit scored tries in two consecutive Castle Tri-Nations tests in 2011, the first two of the season.
Morné Steyn’s eight penalty kicks against the All Blacks in Durban in 2009 are the most by a Springbok in a test.
Chiliboy Ralepelle scored his first test try against Australia in Sydney in 2011.
From 1891 to the end of 2010, the Boks have played 395 tests & 339 friendlies.
Irish referee Alain Rolland has handled the most Bok test matches – 13 to be exact.
Os du Randt holds the record for the longest Springbok career – 13 years and 12 days – stretching from his debut in 1994 to his last test in 2007.
Out of the 28 tests Adrian Garvey played for the Springboks, they won 24. This is the highest winning percentage (86%) by a Springbok for players with 20 tests or more.
At 60 tests, Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha hold the world record for the longest lock partnership in a starting 15.
Breyton Paulse’s seven tries against the Wallabies are the most by any Springbok in tests against Australia.
Ten sets of fathers and sons have played for the Boks – the last being Flippie (prop) and Flip (lock) van der Merwe.
The Springboks scored 15 points in both Rugby World Cup Finals that they’ve won, 1995 it was 15-12 & in 2007 it was 15–6.
To date, the Boks have won 20 out of their 26 tests in Port Elizabeth.
To date, the Boks have won 20 out of their 31 tests in Durban.
The Springboks have the second-highest winning percentage in test rugby out of all the major test-playing nations.
Ollie le Roux, with 43 appearances on the Bok bench, is the Springbok who was used most as a replacement in tests.
Joost van der Westhuizen and Henry Honiball played together as half-backs 24 times – the most in tests for the Springboks.
John Smit departed as the most capped Springbok Test Rugby player of all time & the most capped captain in the history of international rugby, having led the team on 83 occasions in his 111 Tests.
Victor Matfield retired as the most capped Springbok Rugby Player ever. He played 114 matches in the Springbok jersey (110 Tests and four midweek matches). He also captained the Boks on 17 occasions.

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