# List of South Africa national rugby union team records

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 :
| 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) | Wales | Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria | 1998 |
Greatest losing margin :
| 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 | Percy Montgomery | 1997–2008 | 893 | 102 | 25 | 153 | 148 | 6 | 8.75 |
| 2 | Handré Pollard | 2014– | 772 | 80 | 7 | 109 | 168 | 5 | 9.65 |
| 3 | Morné Steyn | 2009–2021 | 742 | 68 | 8 | 102 | 156 | 10 | 10.91 |
| 4 | Bryan Habana | 2004–2016 | 335 | 124 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 |
| 5 | Elton Jantjies | 2012–2022 | 331 | 46 | 2 | 66 | 62 | 1 | 7.2 |
| 6 | Naas Botha | 1980–1992 | 312 | 28 | 2 | 50 | 50 | 18 | 11.14 |
| 7 | Joel Stransky | 1993–1996 | 240 | 22 | 6 | 30 | 47 | 3 | 10.91 |
| 8 | Braam van Straaten | 1999–2001 | 221 | 21 | 2 | 23 | 55 | 0 | 10.52 |
| 9 | Joost van der Westhuizen | 1993–2003 | 190 | 89 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.13 |
| 10 | Jannie de Beer | 1997–1999 | 181 | 13 | 2 | 33 | 27 | 8 | 15.08 |

### Most tries

| # | Name | Period | Tries | Caps | per game | Position |
| 1 | Bryan Habana | 2004–2017 | 67 | 124 | 54% | Wing/Centre |
| 2 | Joost van der Westhuizen | 1993–2003 | 38 | 89 | 42.7% | Scrum-half |
| 3 | Jaque Fourie | 2003–2013 | 32 | 72 | 44.4% | Centre/Wing |
| 3 | Makazole Mapimpi | 2018– | 32 | 46 | 69.6% | Wing |
| 5 | Jean de Villiers | 2002–2015 | 27 | 109 | 24.8% | Centre/Wing |
| 6 | Breyton Paulse | 1997–2007 | 26 | 64 | 40.6% | Wing/Fullback |
| 7 | Percy Montgomery | 1997–2008 | 25 | 102 | 24.5% | Fullback/Fly-half/Centre |
| 8 | JP Pietersen | 2006–2016 | 24 | 70 | 34.3% | Wing/Fullback |
| 9 | Malcolm Marx | 2016– | 21 | 76 | 27.6% | Hooker |
| 9 | Pieter Rossouw | 1997–2003 | 21 | 43 | 48.8% | Wing |

### Most appearances as captain

| # | Name | Period | Apps | Win % | Position |
| 1 | John Smit | 2003–2011 | 83 | 65.1% | Hooker/Prop |
| 2 | Siya Kolisi | 2018– | 60 | 66.7% | Flanker |
| 3 | Jean de Villiers | 2012–2015 | 37 | 64.9% | Centre/Wing |
| 4 | Gary Teichmann | 1996–1999 | 36 | 72.2% | Number 8 |
| 5 | Francois Pienaar | 1993–1996 | 29 | 65.5% | Flanker |

### Match records

Most points in a match :
| Points | Player | Opposing team | Venue | Year |
| 35 | Percy Montgomery | Namibia | Newlands Stadium, Cape Town | 2007 |
| 34 | Jannie de Beer | England | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 1999 |
| 31 | Percy Montgomery | Wales | Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria | 1998 |
| 31 | Morné Steyn | New Zealand | Kings Park Stadium, Durban | 2009 |
| 31 | Handré Pollard | Argentina | Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta | 2019 |
Most tries in a match :
| Tries | Player | Opposing team | Venue | Year |
| 6 | Tonderai Chavhanga | Uruguay | Buffalo City Stadium, East London | 2005 |
| 5 | Stefan Terblanche | Italy | Kings Park Stadium, Durban | 1999 |
| 4 | Chester Williams | Samoa | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | 1995 |
| 4 | Pieter Rossouw | France | Parc des Princes, Paris | 1997 |
| 4 | Stefan Terblanche | Ireland | Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein | 1998 |
| 4 | Bryan Habana | Samoa | Parc des Princes, Paris | 2007 |
| 4 | Jongi Nokwe | Australia | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | 2008 |