Boks at a glance

South African play Argentina in the opening round of the Rugby Championship in Pretoria on Saturday. Here are some interesting statistics and facts!

* The Springbok starting team boasts a total of 620 Test caps (288 in the backline and 332 in the forwards), while there a further 175 caps worth of experience on the bench.

* South Africa and Argentina have played each other 17 times since 1993, with the Springboks winning 16 Tests and one was drawn. The Springboks have scored 682 points and 84 tries and conceded 324 points and 30 tries for an average score of 40-19.

* South Africa and Argentina last met on 24 August 2013 in Mendoza in the Rugby Championship. The Boks beat Argentina 22-17 after trailing 13-17 at half-time. Morné Steyn kicked two penalties in the last ten minutes. This was a week after the Boks beat Argentina 73-13 in Soweto.

* Jean de Villiers will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok centre, with 81 Tests in this position. He will also captain the Springboks for a 25th time.

* Bryan Habana will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 96 Tests in this position. He will also extend his record of seven career appearances against Argentina and if he scores a try, will extend his record of 55 Test tries for South Africa as well as his Rugby Championship record of 17 tries in this competition.

* If he goes on at flyhalf, Morné Steyn will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok flyhalf, with 54 Tests in this position. If he scores a try, he will also extend his record of eight Test tries as a flyhalf for South Africa.

* If he scores a try, Bismarck du Plessis will extend his own record of nine Test tries for South Africa. Bismarck and his older brother Jannie will extend their record of playing together in 34 Tests for the Springboks. Bismarck, Jannie and Tendai Mtawarira will also extend their record of 16 Tests as a front-row pairing for South Africa.

* Damian de Allende becomes Springbok no. 862.

* The referee is John Lacey of Ireland. This will be his first Test involving South Africa.

Springbok Test match records at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria:

* Most points – 31 by Percy Montgomery (two tries, nine conversions, one penalty) against Wales on 27 June, 1998.

* Most tries – three by Danie Gerber against South America on 27 March, 1982; by Pieter Rossouw against Wales on 27 June, 1998 and by Bryan Habana against Australia on 29 September, 2012.

* Most conversions – nine by Percy Montgomery on 27 June, 1998.

penalty goals – six by Gerald Bosch against France on 28 June, 1975 and by Braam van Straaten against England on 17 June, 2000.

* Most drop goals – one by six players. The latest was André Pretorius against Australia on 30 July, 2005.

* Most will be the Springboks 33rd Test match at Loftus. In the previous 32 Tests the Boks have won 24 and lost eight scoring 1072 points in the process and 650 points against.

The Springbok team with caps and points:

15 Willie le Roux 15 Tests 35 points

14 Cornal Hendricks 3 Tests 10 points

13 Damian de Allende 0 Tests 0 points

12 Jean de Villiers (captain) 96 Tests 125 points

11 Bryan Habana 97 Tests 275 points

10 Handré Pollard 1 test 13 points

9 Ruan Pienaar 76 Tests 130 points

8 Duane Vermeulen 19 Tests 10 points

7 Willem Alberts 32 Tests 35 points

6 Francois Louw 30 Tests 25 points

5 Lodewyk de Jager 3 Tests 10 points

4 Bakkies Botha 79 Tests 35 points

3 Jannie du Plessis 54 Tests 5 points

2 Bismarck du Plessis (vice-captain) 60 Tests 45 points

1 Tendai Mtawarira 55 Tests 10 points

Replacements:

16 Adriaan Strauss 34 Tests 25 points

17 Trevor Nyakane 4 Tests 5 points

18 Frans Malherbe 2 Tests 0 points

19 Eben Etzebeth 23 Tests 0 points

20 Marcell Coetzee 16 Tests 10 points

21 Francois Hougaard 28 Tests 20 points

22 Morné Steyn 56 Tests 660 points

23 Jan Serfontein 12 Tests 5 points