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15 stats and facts: Springboks v Italy

Cape Town - Fifteen stats and facts ahead of Saturday's Italy v Springboks Test in Padova.

Kick-off is at 16:00 SA time.

· Padova is situated in northern Italy, approximately 40km west of Venice. Stadio Euganeo is a football stadium, but it is also used for concerts, rugby league, rugby union and athletics and has a seating capacity is 32 420.

· Previously, South Africa played one Test against Italy at this stadium, when they beat Italy by 22-6 on November 22, 2014.

· Five Springboks of the current squad played in that Test - Duane Vermeulen, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Handré Pollard and Lood de Jager.

· South Africa’s overall record against Italy: P: 13; W: 12; L: 1; PF: 617; PA: 165; TF: 84; TA: 14; Average score: 47-13. Win%: 92%.

· South Africa scored 101 points against Italy in 1999 at Kings Park, Durban, their third highest score in a Test match by the Springboks. On that day they also set the second highest winning margin when Italy failed to score a point.

· Italy’s only win against South Africa was during last year when they won 20-18 in Florence.

· The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 428. There are 93 caps in the backline with 335 caps among the forwards and a further 129 caps on the bench.

· The average caps per player in the backline is 13, the forwards 42 while the players on the bench average 16.

· The average age of the starting XV is 26.

· Tendai Mtawarira will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok prop to 98 caps in this position. He is the third most experienced Springbok forward, behind Victor Matfield (127) and John Smit (111).

· Eben Etzebeth will play in his 10th Test as captain.

· Handré Pollard needs two points to reach 200 points in Tests for South Africa.

· Warrick Gelant could make his Springbok debut should he be used as a substitute. His Springbok number will then be #890.

· Should Chiliboy Ralepelle be used from the bench, it will be his first appearance in a Test match since June 2013.

· Four players will play in their 12th consecutive Test match of the season - Andries Coetzee, Courtnall Skosan, Eben Etzebeth and Steven Kitshoff, should he be used as a substitute.

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