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Cape Town - Fourteen stats and facts ahead of Saturday's second Springboks v England Test in Bloemfontein.
- It will be a special day for Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira, who will play in his 100th Test for South Africa, becoming the first Springbok prop to do so. He joins an elite group of only seven international props who have played in 100 or more Test matches: Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones (both Wales, British & Irish Lions), Jason Leonard (England, British & Irish Lions), John Hayes (Ireland, British & Irish Lions), Martin Castrogiovanni and Andrea Lo Cicero (both Italy) and Tony Woodcock (New Zealand).
- Only five other players have reached 100 Test caps for the Springboks. They are Percy Montgomery (in 2008), John Smit, Victor Matfield (both in 2010), Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers (both in 2014).
- The number of caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 368, with 114 caps in the backline and 254 among the forwards, while on the bench the number is 77.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 16, the forwards 32 while the players on the bench average 10. The average age of the starting XV is 26.
- This will be the third Test between South Africa and England in Bloemfontein. In June 2000, England, under the captaincy of Martin Johnson, undertook a five-match tour to South Africa. Two Test matches were played of which the first was won by the Springboks in Pretoria. The second international, which was the first Test for England at the Free State Stadium (as it was called back then) in Bloemfontein, was won 27-22 by England.
- On that day, all 27 points came from the boot of Jonny Wilkinson, with eight penalty goals (a record for any player against South Africa) and a drop goal. The 27 points is a joint record for any opponent against South Africa. The other two players who achieved this are Rob Andrew of England and Gerald Merceron of France.
- Almost seven years later, on May 26, 2007, South Africa scored their biggest win (58-10) against the English in Bloemfontein. The score of 58 and the winning margin of 48 are still Springbok records against England.
- England’s best performance against South Africa was in 2002 at Twickenham, when they defeated the Springboks with a score of 53-3, the second biggest defeat for the Springboks in history.
- South Africa are undefeated in five series against England.
- South Africa’s record against England in South Africa is: Played 14; Won 10; Lost 3; Drawn 1; Points for 404; Points against 252; Tries for 41; Tries against 16; Average score 29-18.
- The overall record of the Springboks against England is: Played 39; Won 24; Lost 13; Drawn 2; Points for 843; Points against 668; Tries for 79; Tries against 51; Average score 22-17.
- The referee is Romain Poite of France. He was born on September 14, 1975 in Rochefort, France and made his international debut as a referee on November 11, 2006 in a Test match between Morocco and Namibia in Casablanca.
- This Test match will be his 58th Test and the 10th with South Africa involved. The previous nine Tests ended in five wins and four losses for the Boks for a 56% win record.
- The assistant referees are Glen Jackson and Ben O’Keeffe, both of New Zealand. The TMO will be Simon McDowell of Ireland.
