The Springboks vs The Wallabies

Oct 6 • General News, International, National, Rugby World Cup News, RWC 2011 • 3206 Views • Comments Off on The Springboks vs The Wallabies

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Sunday, 9 October at Wellington Regional Stadium

Below is a statistical preview of the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match between South Africa and Australia in Wellington on Sunday.

South Africa’s first match in a RWC tournament was against Australia in the opening match of the 1995 tournament held in South Africa. The match was played at Newlands, Cape Town and was won by the Springboks 27-18. At the end of that tournament, South Africa were crowned Champions.

Four years later, the two sides met again in the 1999 RWC tournament. This time it was in the semifinal at Twickenham, London. On this occasion, Australia triumphed after extra time, 27-21, and they went on to reclaim the William Webb Ellis trophy. They became the first team to win the Rugby World Cup twice.

In 2007 South Africa became the second team to be crowned RWC Champions for a second time. On Sunday these two teams will meet for a third time in RWC history, this time for a place in the Semi-final.

THE TEAM

No Player Province Caps RWC caps
15 Pat Lambie KwaZulu-Natal 10 3
14 JP Pietersen KwaZulu-Natal 41 10
13 Jaque Fourie Western Province 68 14
12 Jean de Villiers Western Province 71 3
11 Bryan Habana Western Province 73 10
10 Morné Steyn Blue Bulls 33 4
9 Fourie du Preez Blue Bulls 61 10
8 Pierre Spies Blue Bulls 46 4
7 Schalk Burger Western Province 67 12
6 Heinrich Brüssow Free State 19 4
5 Victor Matfield Blue Bulls 109 13
4 Danie Rossouw Blue Bulls 62 14
3 Jannie du Plessis KwaZulu-Natal 29 5
2 John Smit (captain) KwaZulu-Natal 110 16
1 Gurthrö Steenkamp Blue Bulls 37 6
Replacements  
16 Bismarck du Plessis KwaZulu-Natal 41 8
17 CJ van der Linde Golden Lions 73 7
18 Willem Alberts KwaZulu-Natal 8 4
19 Francois Louw Bath, England 9 2
20 Francois Hougaard Blue Bulls 14 4
21 Butch James Golden Lions 42 7
22 Gio Aplon Western Province 16 1

 

  • ·         The oldest player is Victor Matfield (34 Years)
  • ·         The youngest player is Pat Lambie (20 Years)
  • ·         The heaviest player is CJ van der Linde (123 kg)
  • ·         The lightest player is Geo Aplon (78 kg)
  • ·         The tallest player is Victor Matfield (2.01 m)
  • ·         The shortest player is Geo Aplon (1.75 m)
  • ·         The average weight of the forwards is 115 kg
  • ·         The average weight of the backs is 93 kg

TEAM MILESTONES AND RECORDS

  • ·         The starting lineup has 836 combined caps. This is the most experienced Springbok side of all time, with 21 more caps than the team that played against Wales in South Africa’s opening game in this tournament.
  • ·         This will be South Africa’s 30th test match in RWC tournaments. Of the previous 29 tests, only three were lost, for a winning percentage of 89.7%, the best of any participant in this tournament.
  • ·         South Africa have scored 115 tries in Rugby World Cup tournaments and 1 000 points.
  • ·         The first test that was played by South Africa on a Sunday was against Italy in Rome on 12 November 1995. Since then the Springboks have played in 13 tests on a Sunday. They have won them all.

PLAYERS’ MILESTONES & RECORDS

  • ·         John Smit will captain the Springboks for a world record 83rd time, in his 111th Test and 17th RWC match, both Springbok records. All 17 tests have been consecutive, placing him alongside Brian Lima of Samoa and one match behind record holder Martin Johnson of England who played in 18 consecutive RWC Matches. Smit is the only captain in RWC history to have captained his team in three RWC tournaments.
  • ·         Victor Matfield will play in his 110th test for the Springboks. He is the most capped lock forward in Rugby Union and has scored 7 test tries in his Springbok career.
  • ·         Bryan Habana extended his Springbok career try-scoring record in tests for South Africa to 40 tries in 73 tests against Samoa. His 10 RWC tries are also a Springbok record.
  • ·         Jaque Fourie is the most capped Springbok centre (57) and leading centre try scorer (28). Fourie and Jean de Villiers will extend their Springbok record as a centre pairing to 26 tests on Sunday.
  • ·         Morne Steyn passed the 400-points mark in Springbok rugby during the test against Samoa. He is currently the top point scorer in this tournament with 53 points. He will also play in his 22nd consecutive test match.
  • ·         Pierre Spies is South Africa’s top try scorer in tests as a No 8 with 7 tries.
  • ·         Schalk Burger is South Africa’s most capped flank forward with 65 tests and shares the Springbok try-scoring record for a flank with Juan Smith with 11 tries each.
  • ·         Danie Rossouw has scored six tries in RWC tournaments, a Springbok record for a forward.
  • ·         Gurthrö Steenkamp is South Africa’s top try scorer as a prop in tests with 6 tries. Three of his six tries were scored against Australia.
  • ·         Jannie and Bismarck du Plessis will play together as brothers in their 20th test should Bismarck be used from the bench.
  • ·         Butch James is South Africa’s most capped flyhalf with 37 tests. Butch played in 6 tests in RWC 2007, but only once as a substitute against Wales in this tournament.
  • ·         Francois Hougaard is South Africa’s top try scorer in this tournament together with Frans Steyn with 3 tries each.
  • ·         CJ van der Linde will play in his 35th test as a substitute should he be used off the bench.

HEAD TO HEAD

South Africa Australia
41 Won 31
31 Lost 41
1 Drawn 1
56.2 Win percentage 42.5
1 376 Points 1 292
1 292 Points conceded 1 376
166 Tries 134
134 Tries conceded 166

 

LAST FIVE MEETINGS

24/07/2010         Australia won 30-13 in Brisbane.

28/08/2010         South Africa won 44-31 in Pretoria.

04/09/2010         Australia won 41-39 in Bloemfontein.

23/07/2011         Australia won 39-20 in Sydney.

13/08/2011         Australia won 14-9 in Durban.               

OVERALL

South Africa Australia
403 Tests 529
255 Won 268
129 Lost 246
19 Drawn 15
63.3 Win percentage 50.7
9 158 Points 10 870
6 187 Points conceded 8 682
1 137 Tries 1 388
620 Tries conceded 1 088

 

PLAYER CAREER RECORDS

South Africa   Australia
110 – John Smit Most tests 139 – George Gregan
893 – Percy Montgomery Most points 911 – Michael Lynagh
40 – Bryan Habana Most tries 64 – David Campese
153 – Percy Montgomery Most conversions 140 – Michael Lynagh
148 – Percy Montgomery Most penalty goals 177 – Michael Lynagh
18 – Naas Botha Most drop goals 9 – Michael Lynagh & Phil Hawthorne

 

THE COACHES

Peter de Villiers made his International Coaching debut in June 2008 against Wales in Bloemfontein. His match record is as follows: 47 test matches of which 30 were won with 17 losses for a win percentage of 63.8%.

Robbie Deans is a former All Black who played in five test matches for New Zealand. Following a  successful career with the Canterbury Crusaders (under his guidance the Crusaders played in seven Super Rugby Finals of which his team won five), he was appointed as Head Coach of the Australian Wallabies in 2008. He made his International Coaching debut in June 2008 against Ireland in Melbourne. His match record since then is: 52 test matches of which 30 were won, 21 lost with one drawn for a win percentage of 57.7%.

WELLINGTON REGIONAL STADIUM

South Africa have played seven Tests at the venue: Five were lost – all against the All Blacks – while two have been won during this tournament, against Wales and Fiji.

THE REFEREE

Bryce Lawrence of New Zealand made his Test debut in 2008 in a Tri-Nations test between Australia and South Africa. The test was played in Perth and was won by Australia 16-9.

Sunday’s match will be his 20th Test appearance and his seventh involving the Springboks. Of the previous six tests South Africa won 4 and lost two. Both losses were against Australia, the most recent, earlier this year in Durban when the Springboks lost 14-9.

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