Eight days after Damian de Allende at Ellis Park, South Africa will celebrate a second centurion on Saturday in Cape Town. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 34, will reach 100 caps in the second Test against the All Blacks, at the DHL Stadium, on home soil.
Our records put him on ninety-nine caps after the first Test. He will therefore become the eleventh player in Springbok history to pass the mark.
| Player | Caps | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Eben Etzebeth | 143 | since 2011 |
| Victor Matfield | 127 | 2000-2015 |
| Bryan Habana | 124 | 2004-2016 |
| Tendai Mtawarira | 117 | 2007-2019 |
| John Smit | 111 | 1999-2011 |
| Jean de Villiers | 109 | 2002-2015 |
| Siya Kolisi | 104 | since 2012 |
| Percy Montgomery | 102 | 1996-2008 |
| Willie le Roux | 101 | since 2012 |
| Damian de Allende | 101 | since 2014 |
Two centurions in eight days is unusual. It comes down to the shape of this series: four Tests against the same opponent in one month, something the international calendar has not produced for a long time.
A milestone in a turbulent week
Du Toit goes into the match as captain, having taken the armband in the absence of Siya Kolisi, who has a hamstring injury. That could change before Saturday: Rassie Erasmus has named Kolisi on the team sheet as an alternate with Paul de Villiers, a rare arrangement, with the captain needing to come through Monday’s training session to be selected.
The head coach has also reshuffled his half-backs after the 33-16 defeat, with Cobus Reinach and Handré Pollard starting in place of Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who drops to the bench. He also admitted publicly that his six-forward bench had backfired on him.
Defeat in Cape Town would leave the Springboks mathematically unable to win the series.
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