LIVE MATCH CENTRE: New Zealand v South Africa
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Saturday will see Westpac Stadium host one of the most highly anticipated Rugby Championship matches in years, with South Africa traveling to Wellington to take on the All Blacks.
Ahead of what will be the sides' 98th clash against each other, we take a look at some key stats and facts.
1. The last match between the two sides was a tight 32-30 win to the All Blacks in Pretoria in October last year.
2. South Africa beat the All Blacks 36-34 in Wellington last year.
3. The All Blacks need just six more points to become the first team in Test rugby history to score 16,000 points - no other team is yet to break the 14,000 mark.
4. Beauden Barrett will be playing his 75th Test match for the All Blacks and will enter the top 20 of most capped All Blacks of all time.
5. Brodie Retallick will be playing his 200th first-class match this weekend.
6. The All Blacks have held The Freedom Cup since 2010. They won The Rugby Championship in 2012 - 2014 and again in 2016 - 2018 (as well as a Rugby Championship "Grand Slam" in 2012 - 2013 and 2016-2017).
7. The total test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 457. There are 168 caps in the backline with 289 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 350 caps.
8. Eben Etzebeth is the third most capped Springboks lock with 77 Test matches. Victor Matfield (127) and Bakkies Botha (85) are the most capped Springboks locks.
9. Tendai Mtawarira is the second most capped Springbok in the Rugby Championship with 51 appearances. Bryan Habana holds the records with 53 appearances.
10. Should a successful drop goal be kicked by a Springbok in this Test match, it will be the 30th drop goal against New Zealand in the history of Test match rugby between the two countries.
11. The referee is Nic Berry of Australia and this will be his 10th Test match as a referee, but his first involving South Africa.
12. New Zealand have won 22 of their last 25 Tests (L3), including their last two on the bounce.
13. South Africa have won three of their last four Tests after having won only two of their six prior to that run.
14. New Zealand have won 20 of their previous 24 Tests played at Westpac Stadium.
15. South Africa have won only two of their last 12 games away from home in The RugbyChampionship
16. New Zealand (77%) and South Africa (62%) have the two highest win rates of any Tier 1 teams in Test rugby history.
17. South Africa scored two tries within the final quarter of their 35-17 win over Australia in Round 1 of The Rugby Championship 2019; as many as they had managed in that period across the entire 2018 campaign.
18. Ngani Laumape (New Zealand) gained 7.2m per carry in Round 1 of The RugbyChampionship 2019, the most of any player to make at least 10 carries.
Springbok records against New Zealand at Westpac Stadium
Played 7; Won 1; Lost 6; Drawn 0; Points for 115; Points against 214; Tries for 14; Tries against 25; Wins 14%
Team records against New Zealand:
· Most points: 36 – 15 September 2018 (the 36 points conceded by New Zealand were their most ever against any opponent on home soil)
· Most tries: 5 – 15 September 2018
· Most conversions: 4 – 15 September 2018
· Most penalty goals: 1 – On five occasions
· Most drop goals: 1 – 20 July 2002 and 13 September 2014
Individual records against New Zealand:
· Most points: 11 – H Pollard – 15 September 2018
· Most tries: 2 – AO Dyantyi – 15 September 2018
· Most conversions: 4 – H Pollard – 15 September 2018
· Most penalty goals: 1 – By five players
· Most drop goals: 1 – WW Greeff –20 July 2002 and H Pollard – 13 September 2014
Springbok records against all opponents at Westpac Stadium
Played 10; Won 3; Lost 3; Drawn 0; Points for 190; Points against 244; Tries for 22; Tries against 27; Wins 30%
Team records:
· Most points: 49 v Fiji – 17 September 2011
· Most tries: 6 v Fiji – 17 September 2011
· Most conversions: 5 v Fiji – 17 September 2011
· Most penalty goals: 2 v Australia – 9 October 2011
· Most drop goals: 1 on three occasions
Individual records:
· Most points: 21 by M Steyn (t, 5c, 2p) v Fiji – 17 September 2011
· Most tries: 2 by AO Dyantyi v New Zealand – 15 September 2018
· Most conversions: 5 by M Steyn v Fiji – 17 September 2011
· Most penalty goals: 2 by M Steyn v Fiji – 17 September 2011 and v Australia – 9 October, 2011
· Most drop goals: 1 by each of WW Greeff v New Zealand – 20 July 2002; M Steyn v Australia – 9 October 2011 and H Pollard v New Zealand – 13 September 2014
Match-day squads
