Springboks v Wallabies: By the numbers

SOUTH AFRICA v AUSTRALIA – DHL STADIUM, CAPE TOWN – KO 5.10pm

Referee

James Doleman

Test debut: 13 July, 2021 – Australia 26-28 France

Tests as referee: 14

• James Doleman will take charge of this fixture for the first time.

• South Africa won their only previous Test with Doleman as referee, beating Argentina 36-20 away in September 2022.

• Doleman made his Test debut in the middle with Australia’s 28-26 loss to France in July 2021 but the Wallabies have won their four encounters with the New Zealand official in charge since.

• The most recent of these came in November when the Wallabies beat Wales 52-20 in the Autumn Nations Series in Cardiff.

• This is Doleman’s second Test of the year, having also refereed Ireland’s 32-18 defeat of Scotland in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations.

• Doleman also refereed Argentina’s 28-24 victory over the British & Irish Lions in a non-cap match in Dublin on 20 June.

Head-to-head

Played 96* – South Africa leads 52-41 with three draws

Points for: South Africa 1 945 / Australia 1 710 (Avg. score: 20-18)

Highest score: South Africa 61 (61-22 on 23 August, 1997)/Australia 49 (49-0 on 15 July, 2006)

Biggest winning margin: South Africa 45 (53-8 on 30 August, 2008)/Australia 49 (49-0 on 15 July, 2006)

* Only Tests for both teams (first three matches were non-cap for South Africa)

First met: 25 June, 1921 – South Africa 25-10 Australia (non-cap match for South Africa)

Last met: 16 August, 2025 – Australia 38-22 South Africa – Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg

Head-to-head notes

• Australia’s 38-22 victory last weekend in Johannesburg ended a four-match losing streak against the Springboks.

• It was their first win on South African soil since the 14-9 victory at King’s Park in Durban, on 13 August, 2011, and the first win at altitude since 1963.

• It was also the first time the Wallabies had scored more than 30 points against South Africa in 14 years.

• Having only scored four tries in their four previous meetings with the Springboks, Australia managed to cross the whitewash six times in Johannesburg, captain Harry Wilson leading the way with a double.

• The rest of Australia’s tries were scored by outside backs – Dylan Pietsch, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Max Jorgensen and Tom Wright.

• James O’Connor, who played in that 2011 win, slotted four conversions on his return.

• South Africa’s points were scored by Kurt-Lee Arendse, Andre Esterhuizen and captain Siya Kolisi, with Manie Libbok kicking seven points.

• Australian openside Fraser McReight was named Player of the Match after completing a match-best 21 tackles and making two turnovers.

• The Wallabies only conceded four penalties the entire game, compared to 10 by South Africa, while neither side lost a scrum on their feed.

• The result means Australia are now in a position to win the Nelson Mandela Plate, the prize at stake whenever these two teams meet.

• As challengers, Australia need to win both Rugby Championship matches to get their hands on the silverware.

Team notes

• South Africa suffered defeat on the opening weekend of The Rugby Championship for the first time since they lost 24-20 to Australia in Brisbane at the start of the 2015 tournament.

• South Africa are 55 points away from scoring 2 000 points against Australia.

• The Springboks have won 13 of their last 17 home Tests, with the defeats coming against Ireland, New Zealand, Wales and now Australia.

• Last weekend’s defeat to Australia was their first since they lost 29-28 to Argentina in the penultimate round of the 2024 Rugby Championship and ended a seven-test winning run.

• South Africa are the reigning world champions and The Rugby Championship winners but are no longer the No 1-ranked team in the world.

• The Springboks were replaced at the top of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings by New Zealand, the margin of defeat to Australia seeing them fall to third place.

• South Africa ended their five-year wait for The Rugby Championship title when they won the 2024 edition.

• It was their second title since Argentina joined the competition to form The Rugby Championship, having previously lifted the trophy in 2019.

• Australia won on the opening weekend of The Rugby Championship for the first time since 2022 when they beat South Africa in Johannesburg last Saturday.

• The Wallabies trailed the Springboks 22-0 after 18 minutes of the first half but reeled off 38 unanswered points to pull off the sixth-biggest comeback win in men’s Test rugby history.

• Australia have won back-to-back games and have not won three Tests in a row since they put together a four-game winning streak in 2023-24 after victories over Portugal, Wales twice and Georgia.

• Australia are seeking their first win in Cape Town since 1992, when they won 26-3, thanks to a try from David Campese and a double from his less heralded fellow wing, Paul Carozza.

• Australia have lost their last seven matches in Cape Town, all at Newlands Stadium.

• Australia picked up five competition points for their win over South Africa in round one – as many as they managed in the entirety of last year’s competition, when they finished last.

• The Wallabies won their only Rugby Championship title in 2015, when the tournament was cut to three matches apiece, due to Rugby World Cup 2015 in England.

Team news

• Only five players – Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams and Jesse Kriel – have been retained in the starting line-up as South Africa seek to avenge their loss in Johannesburg.

• Kriel will take over the captaincy from Kolisi, one of four players ruled out following the defeat alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit, Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe.

• It will be the second time that Kriel leads the Springboks, having done so first against Italy in July, with prop Nche named as vice-captain for the first time.

• Nche and Marx, who plays his 80th Test for South Africa, are joined in the front row by Thomas du Toit with RG Snyman and Ruan Nortje forming a new second-row combination.

• Franco Mostert and Jean-Luc du Preez come into the back row alongside Van Staden with Du Preez earning a first Test appearance since the RWC 2023 warm-up win over Argentina.

• Handre Pollard comes into partner Williams at half-back and the flyhalf needs only three points to bring up 800 in Test rugby.

• Damian de Allende returns alongside Kriel to extend their Springbok record of 38 Tests together in midfield and will bring up 90 Tests in the green and gold.

• An all-new back three sees Cheslin Kolbe and Canan Moodie on the wings and South Africa’s newest test centurion Willie le Roux at fullback.

• Replacement hooker Marnus van der Merwe is in line for this Rugby Championship debut having won his first cap against Georgia last month.

• Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is the other new face on the bench, providing backline cover with Cobus Reinach in a six-two split.

• Corey Toole will make his Wallabies debut in place of Dylan Pietsch, who suffered a jaw fracture in last weekend’s victory in Johannesburg.

• The Paris 2024 Olympian is one of three changes to the starting line-up, the others being Rob Valetini replacing captain Wilson at No 8 and Tom Robertson starting at loose-head prop with James Slipper having returned home with a concussion.

• Wilson is being managed after limping from the field and so his fellow back-row McReight will captain the Wallabies for the first time in his 31st Test, the former Australia U20 captain becoming his country’s 91st Test captain.

• Robertson joins hooker Billy Pollard and Taniela Tupou in the front row with Nick Frost and Will Skelton continuing their second-row partnership.

• Tom Hooper lines up on the blindside with McReight and Valetini in the back row.

• Nic White and O’Connor go again at half-back with the scrumhalf the only player to have featured in Australia’s last match in Cape Town in 2014.

• The centre pairing of Len Ikitau and Suaalii is unchanged with Jorgensen and fullback Wright completing the backline.

Coach notes

• Rassie Erasmus returned to the Springboks head coach role in February 2024, signing a contract that takes him up to the end of 2027.

• Erasmus was the mastermind behind the Springboks’ back-to-back Rugby World Cup successes of 2019 and 2023 – as head coach and then director of rugby.

• His reign in charge started with a defeat to Wales in Washington DC in June 2018.

• Erasmus won 36 caps for South Africa as a back-row forward from 1997-2001.

• Joe Schmidt was unveiled as the Wallabies’ new head coach in January 2024 and has won nine of his 18 games in charge (50%).

• He is the third New Zealander, after Robbie Deans and Dave Rennie, to coach Australia.

• The 59-year-old is renowned for his success with Ireland, winning three Men’s Six Nations titles along with historic wins over New Zealand and South Africa.

• The World Rugby Men’s 15s Coach of the Year 2018 led Ireland to No 1 in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings for the first time in 2019 before linking up with the All Blacks as an assistant coach following a period as World Rugby’s Director of Rugby and High Performance.

• Previously, he won two Champions Cups with Irish province Leinster, along with the European Rugby Challenge Cup and PRO 14 title.

• Schmidt will stand down from the position and be replaced by Les Kiss in 2026.

Springbok starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel (capt), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe; 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams; 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Marco van Staden; 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 RG Snyman; 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Wallaby starting XV: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Corey Toole; 10 James O’Connor, 9 Nic White; 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight (capt), 6 Tom Hooper; 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost; 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 Tom Robertson. Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Andrew Kellaway.