South African versus Wales - by the numbers
STAT ATTACK: Six Nations champions Wales host World Cup holders South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday – two teams with a storied history.
It took the Welsh Dragons more than 90 years – from 1906 to 1999 – to register their first win over the Springboks.
However, their record in the last decade has been far more profitable, winning five of the last seven encounters between the two countries.
Four of those wins were in Cardiff, with the Bok victories a 19-16 squeaker in the World Cup semifinal in Yokohama in October 2019 and an equally tight 23-19 win in the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal in London.
The Springboks’ last win in Cardiff was in November 2013.
Below is a collection of important statistics that tells that story!
Played 36
SA won 29
Wales won six
One draw
Points for SA: 922
Points for Wales 568
Bok tries scored 110
Wales tries cores 48
Highest Bok score 96
Biggest Bok win: 83 points – 96-13, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, 27 June 1998
Bok win percentage: 80.6%.
Player stats:
* Frans Steyn needs nine more points to reach 150 career points for the Springboks.
* Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx need a try each to reach 10 tries and 50 career points.
Miscellaneous:
*The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 620.
*There are 237 caps in the backline with 383 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 313 caps.
*The average caps per player in the backline are 33 and the forwards 47, while the players on the bench average 39.
