List of South Africa national rugby union team records explained

South Africa (known as the Springboks) are a Rugby Union National Team that played their first international match in 1891.

The records listed below only include performances in Test matches. The top five are listed in each category (except when there is a tie for the last place among the five, when all the tied record holders are noted).

Team records

Greatest winning margin^[1]
	Points margin (score)		Opposing team		Venue		Year
131 (134–3)	Uruguay	Buffalo City Stadium, East London	2005
101 (101–0)	Italy	Kings Park Stadium, Durban	1999
92 (105–13)	Namibia	Newlands Stadium, Cape Town	2007
87 (87–0)	Namibia	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland	2011
83 (96–13)		Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria	1998

Greatest losing margin^[2]
	Points margin (score)		Opposing team		Venue		Year
57 (0-57)	New Zealand	QBE Stadium, Albany	2017
50 (3–53)	England	Twickenham Stadium, London	2002
49 (0–49)	Australia	Lang Park, Brisbane	2006
42 (15-57)	New Zealand	Kings Park Stadium,Durban	2016
36 (16–52)	New Zealand	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria	2003

Individual records

Most caps

		Name	Period	Caps	Starts	Subs	Position
1	Eben Etzebeth	2012–	131	122	9	Lock
2	Victor Matfield	2001–2015	127	121	6	Lock
3	Bryan Habana	2004–2016	124	122	2	Wing/Centre
4	Tendai Mtawarira	2008–2019	117	102	15	Prop
5	John Smit	2000–2011	111	94	17	Hooker/Prop
6	Jean de Villiers	2002–2015	109	105	4	Centre/Wing
7	Percy Montgomery	1997–2008	102	90	12	Fullback/Fly-half/Centre
8	Willie le Roux	2013–	98	83	15	Fullback/Wing
9	Siya Kolisi	2013–	92	77	15	Flanker
10	Joost van der Westhuizen	1993–2003	89	78	11	Scrum-half

Most points

	Player	Period	Points	Caps	Tries	Con	Pen	DG	Ave
1		1997–2008	893	102	25	153	148	6
2	Handré Pollard	2014–	772	80	7	109	168	5
3		2009–2021	742	68	8	102	156	10
4		2004–2016	335	124	67	0	0	0
5		2012–2022	331	46	2	66	62	1
6		1980–1992	312	28	2	50	50	18
7		1993–1996	240	22	6	30	47	3
8		1999–2001	221	21	2	23	55	0
9		1993–2003	190	89	38	0	0	0
10		1997–1999	181	13	2	33	27	8

Most tries

		Name		Period	Tries	Caps	per game	Position
1		2004–2017	67	124	%	Wing/Centre
2		1993–2003	38	89	%	Scrum-half
3		2003–2013	32	72	%	Centre/Wing
	Makazole Mapimpi	2018–		46	%	Wing
5		2002–2015	27	109	%	Centre/Wing
6		1997–2007	26	64	%	Wing/Fullback
7		1997–2008	25	102	%	Fullback/Fly-half/Centre
8		2006–2016	24	70	%	Wing/Fullback
9	Malcolm Marx	2016–	21	76	%	Hooker
		1997–2003		43	%	Wing

Most appearances as captain

	Name		Period		Win %	Position
1	John Smit	2003–2011	83	%	Hooker/Prop
2	Siya Kolisi	2018–	60	%	Flanker
3	Jean de Villiers	2012–2015	37	%	Centre/Wing
4	Gary Teichmann	1996–1999	36	%	Number 8
5	Francois Pienaar	1993–1996	29	%	Flanker

Match records

Most points in a match^[3]
	Points		Player		Opposing team		Venue		Year
35		Namibia	Newlands Stadium, Cape Town	2007
34		England	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	1999
31		Wales	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria	1998
	Morné Steyn	New Zealand	Kings Park Stadium, Durban	2009
	Handré Pollard	Argentina	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta	2019

Most tries in a match^[4]
	Tries		Player		Opposing team		Venue		Year
6		Uruguay	Buffalo City Stadium, East London	2005
5		Italy	Kings Park Stadium, Durban	1999
4		Samoa	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg	1995
	Pieter Rossouw	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	1997
		Ireland	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	1998
		Samoa	Parc des Princes, Paris	2007
		Australia	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg	2008

Notes and References

1. http://stats.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=difference;team=5;template=results;type=team;view=match Statsguru / Ordered by: points difference (descending)
2. http://stats.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=difference;orderbyad=reverse;team=5;template=results;type=team;view=match Statsguru / Ordered by: points difference (reverse)
3. http://stats.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=points;team=5;template=results;type=player;view=match Statsguru / Ordered by: total points scored in a match
4. http://stats.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=tries;team=5;template=results;type=player;view=match Statsguru / Ordered by: total tries scored in a match