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13 stats and facts: Argentina v Springboks

Cape Town - Thirteen stats and facts ahead of Saturday's Argentina v Springboks Rugby Championship clash in Salta.

Kick-off is at 21:40 (SA time).

· Salta is situated in the northwest part of Argentina at the foothills of the Andes mountains, 1 152m above sea level.

· The Springboks have played two Tests at this stadium before: in 2014, Jean de Villiers’ team recorded a narrow two-point victory over Argentina (33-31) and in 2016 the Springboks, captained by Adriaan Strauss, lost for the first time since in Argentina - also by a two-point margin (26-24).

· To date, the Boks have played 12 times against the Pumas in Argentina. The Springbok record for the 12 matches: P 12; W 10; L 1; D 1. PF: 402; PA: 250; TF: 46; TA: 23; Average score: 34-21. Win%: 83%.

· South Africa’s overall record against Argentina: P: 25; W: 22; L: 2; D: 1; PF: 894; PA: 487; TF: 104; TA: 44; Average score: 36-19. Win%: 88%.

· The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 344. There are 120 caps in the backline with 224 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 113 caps.

· The average caps per player in the backline is 17, the forwards 28 while the players on the bench average 14. The average age of the starting XV is 26.

· Tendai Mtawarira will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok prop, with 92 caps in this position. He is the third most experienced Springbok forward, with only Victor Matfield (127) and John Smit (111) having played in more Tests for South Africa.

· Mtawarira will also play in his 41st Rugby Championship Test - he is only the fourth Springbok behind Bryan Habana (53), Jean de Villiers (50) and Victor Matfield (48) to play in 40 or more such matches.

· Mtawarira will also extend his Springbok record to 31 consecutive Test matches in the Tri-Nations / Rugby Championship.

· Should the Springboks score 35 or more points in this Test, they will equal the SA record for most consecutive Tests with a score of 35 or more. They won their previous four Tests with scores of 37-14; 37-15; 35-12 (all against France) and 37-15 against Argentina in Port Elizabeth.

· The only time other South Africa achieved the feat was on November 22, 1997 against France in Paris under the leadership of Gary Teichmann (52-10), following three previous winning scores of 35 or more (61-22 vs Australia; 62-31 vs Italy and 36-32 vs France) as well as a defeat of 55-35 to New Zealand.

· The seating capacity of the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena is 20 408.

· The average score in the two previous Test at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena is 29-29, with both teams having scored five tries each in the matches.

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