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Cape Town - 19 stats and facts ahead of Saturday's England v Springboks clash at Twickenham in London.
Team and milestones:
• The total Test caps in the starting line-up is 492, of which 190 caps are in the backline and 302 among the forwards. The combined Test caps of those on the bench is 47. The average caps per player for the matchday 23 is 23.
• The youngest player in the 23 man squad is Lood de Jager (23y, 10m) while the oldest member of the team is Willem Alberts (32y, 6m).
• The tallest player in the squad is Lood de Jager (2.05m), the shortest is Faf de Klerk (1.72m), the heaviest is Steven Kitshoff (125kg) and the lightest is Faf de Klerk (80kg).
• The following players will play in their 10th consecutive Tests in the starting XV under Allister Coetzee: Eben Etzebeth, Adriaan Strauss and Tendai Mtawarira.
• Of the 23 players, JP Pietersen is the most capped against England with eight Tests, while Patrick Lambie has the most career points with 27 (three conversions, six penalties and a drop goal).
• Should South Africa be victorious in this Test, it will be the 13th consecutive Test undefeated against England. As a result of this winning streak of the Springboks, none of the current England squad members have a win against South Africa.
• England are currently undefeated after 10 consecutive wins since winning their final Rugby World Cup pool match in October 2015.
• Francois Venter will make his Springbok Test debut as Springbok #877. He will be the 84th Springbok from Free State.
• Eben Etzebeth will play in his 31st consecutive Test.
• Adriaan Strauss will captain the Springboks for the 10th time.
• Only seven players have played against England before: They are Willem Alberts (4), Eben Etzebeth (5), Pat Lambie (5), Willie le Roux (1), Tendai Mtawarira (6), JP Pietersen (8) and Adriaan Strauss (6).
Head to head:
• England and South Africa will play in their 38th Test match since 1906. South Africa won 23, lost 12 while two matches were drawn for a win percentage of 62%.
• The last time that England won a Test match against South Africa was 10 years ago. John Smit’s Springboks lost narrowly at Twickenham on November 18, 2006 with the score 23-21. Since that day, South Africa and England clashed in 12 Test matches in which the Springboks were unbeaten with 11 wins and one drawn.
• South Africa’s complete record against England is: P: 37; W: 23; L: 12; D: 2; PF: 780; PA: 592; TF: 72; TA: 42; Percentage won: 62%; Average score: 21-16.
Match officials:
• The match officials for this match are: Referee - Jérôme Garcès (France); Assistant referees - Glen Jackson (New Zealand) and Andrew Brace (Ireland) with Jon Mason (Wales) as TMO.
• It will be Garcès’ 10th appearance as referee in Test matches involving South Africa. The Springboks won only three of the previous nine with Garcès in charge.
The stadium:
• Twickenham is the second largest stadium in the UK, after Wembley, and the fourth largest in Europe. It is the home of the English rugby union team.
• The first international at the stadium, England v Wales was played on January 15, 1910. South Africa’s first Test match at the stadium was against England on January 4, 1913 which was won by the Springboks 9-3.
• South Africa’s record at Twickenham is P: 19; W: 11; L: 8; PF: 314; PA: 324; TF: 30; TA: 29; Win %: 58%. Average score: 17-17.
