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Cape Town - Thirteen stats and facts ahead of Saturday's Wales v Springboks Test in Cardiff.
Kick-off is at 16:30 SA time.
· The Principality Stadium in Cardiff was built on the same ground as Cardiff Arms Park. The opening of the stadium took place in June 1999 and the first major event was the Test on June 26, 1999 between Wales and South Africa.
· That day, Gary Teichmann’s Springboks became the first ever Springbok side to lose against Wales (29-19).
· Overall, 17 matches were played at this venue between the Springboks and Wales, with the first dating back to December 14, 1912.
· South Africa’s record at this ground: P: 17; W: 13; L: 3; D: 1; PF: 348; PA: 272; TF: 38; TA: 20; Average score: 20-16. Win%: 76%.
· South Africa’s overall record against Wales: P: 32; W: 28; L: 3; D: 1; PF: 850; PA: 486; TF: 103; TA: 39; Average score: 27-15. Win%: 88%.
· South Africa scored 96 points against Wales in 1998 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, the fourth highest score in a Test by the Springboks.
· Wales’ delivered their best performance against South Africa in their 27-13 win in Cardiff in 2016.
· The total number of Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 289. There are 89 caps in the backline with 200 caps among the forwards, with a further 99 caps on the bench.
· The average caps per player in the backline is 13, the forwards 25 while the players on the bench average 12. The average age of the starting XV is 25.
· After this Test against Wales, three players would have played in all 13 Test matches during 2017 – they are Andries Coetzee, Eben Etzebeth and Steven Kitshoff.
· The match referee is Jérôme Garcès of France. He was born on October 24, 1973 in Pau, France and made his international debut in a non-Test match between England and the Barbarians at Twickenham on May 30, 2010. To date, he has officiated in 39 Tests, with 11 Tests involving South Africa.
· The Springboks have won only three of their Test matches when he was in charge, for a win percentage of 27%.
· The two assistant referees are Wayne Barnes of England and Frank Murphy of Ireland while Rowan Kitt of England is the TMO.
Teams:
Wales
15
Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Hallam Amos, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes,
11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh
Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott
Andrews, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rob Evans
Substitutes: 16 Elliot
Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18. Rhodri Jones, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21
Rhys Webb, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Owen Watkin
South Africa
15
Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter,
11 Warrick Gelant, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Dan du Preez, 7
Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3
Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16
Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Oupa Mohoje 20
Uzair Cassiem, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Lukhanyo Am
