Photo by Denese Lups / Rugby15 / Photo talk

Saturday, 17 September at Wellington Regional Stadium

NOTE: Please note a change to the team numbering with numbers 11 and 14 being reversed.

Below is a statistical preview of the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup match against Fiji in Wellington on Saturday.

• ·         The starting lineup has 675 combined caps
• ·         The oldest player is John Smit (33 Years)
• ·         The youngest player is Pat Lambie (20 Years)
• ·         The heaviest player is Gurthrö Steenkamp (122 kg)
• ·         The lightest player is Juan de Jongh (85 kg)
• ·         The tallest player is Bakkies Botha (2.02 m)
• ·         The shortest players are Pat Lambie and Juan de Jongh (1.77 m)
• ·         The average weight of the forwards is 116 kg
• ·         The average weight of the backs is 94 kg

PLAYERS’ MILESTONES & RECORDS

• ·         John Smit will captain the Springboks for a World record 81st time. It will also be his 14^th test in RWC tournaments and 9^th as captain. John made his RWC debut in 2003 against Uruguay as a replacement hooker. In this match he will extend his Springbok record of most capped hooker to 93 caps.
• ·         Jaque Fourie holds the Springbok record for most career tries as a centre (26). With 7 tries in RWC tournaments he is only one try behind Brian Habana’s Springbok record for most tries in RWC tournaments.
• ·         Danie Rossouw made his RWC debut in 2003 and with four tries in RWC tournaments needs one try to equal Juan Smith’s record for most RWC career tries by a Springbok forward.
• ·         Schalk Burger is South Africa’s most capped flank forward with 62 tests and shares the Springbok try scoring record for a flank with Juan Smith with 11 tries each.
• ·         Pierre Spies is South Africa’s top try scorer in tests as a No 8 with 7 tries.
• ·         Gurthrö Steenkamp shares the Springbok try scoring record for a prop with Chris Koch and Os du Randt with 5 tries each.
• ·         Bismarck du Plessis shares the Springbok record for most test tries as a hooker with James Dalton and John Smit (5). Bismarck and his brother, Jannie will be playing together in their record 18^th test should Bismarck appear.
• ·         Pat Lambie is the youngest player in the Springbok squad.
• ·         The following players will make their RWC debut: Pat Lambie and Odwa Ndungane and if used as a substitute, Juan de Jongh.
• ·         The following players have never been on the losing side in a RWC test match:       Bismarck du Plessis (6 Tests), Jannie du Plessis (3 Tests), Fourie du Preez (7 Tests), Butch James (7 Tests), Johann Muller (5 Tests), JP Pietersen (8 Tests), Gurthrö Steenkamp (3 Tests) and Frans Steyn (8 Tests).

TEAM MILESTONES AND RECORDS

• ·         This will be South Africa’s 26^th test match in RWC tournaments. Of the previous 25 tests, only three were lost. So far South Africa scored 96 tries in Rugby World Cup tournaments.

HEAD TO HEAD – Only two previous meetings

02/07/1996         South Africa won 43-18 in Pretoria.

07/10/2007         South Africa won 37-20 in Marseilles.

OVERALL

PLAYER CAREER RECORDS

PLAYER MATCH RECORDS

OVERALL RECORDS

CAREER RECORDS

THE COACHES

Peter de Villiers match record is as follows: 44 test matches of which 27 were won with 17 losses for a win percentage of 61.36.

Samu Domoni made his Fiji Coaching debut in 2010 versus Australia in Canberra. Since then he has recorded 5 wins and 8 losses with one match drawn.

WELLINGTON REGIONAL STADIUM

South Africa has played 6 tests at this venue: 5 Previous tests were lost by the Springboks, all against the All Blacks, and last weekend recorded their first win against Wales.

THE REFEREE

Romain Poite of France made his RWC debut as an assistant referee in 2007 during the match between Ireland and Namibia. Mr. Poite has never officiated as referee in a match involving the Springboks.