Duo De Allende and Kriel Set to Shatter Bok Record at Kings Park Stadium

Unleashing History in the Rugby Field

Captains Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel are all set to create a new record with their 30th appearance together as the midfield duo for the Springboks, surpassing the existing record of 29 games held by Jean de Villiers and Jacque Fourie. This extraordinary collaboration places them at the helm of the most-capped center pairing in Springbok history when they take on Ireland at Kings Park this weekend.

In another intriguing fact, de Allende has previously partnered with Lukhanyo Am on 28 occasions, placing them third in the all-time ranks. Notable duos like De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert (18) and Hennie le Roux and Japie Mulder, as well as Adrian Jacobs and de Villiers (14), follow behind.

Rassie Erasmus, Springbok coach, has opted for stability by fielding the same lineup that clinched the first Test against the Six Nations champions 27-20 at Loftus Versfeld. This lineup holds the distinction of being the most experienced starting XV in South African history with an impressive aggregate of 990 Test caps, outpacing the 987 caps amassed by the run-on team in the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand in France the previous year.

A closer look at the squad:

Frans Malherbe prepares for his 59th start at tighthead prop, this puts him one ahead of Jannie du Plessis and third on the list for the most starts at prop, behind Tendai Mtawarira (102) and Os du Randt (75).
Cheslin Kolbe requires merely four points to reach the 100-point milestone in Tests for South Africa.
Kwagga Smith is currently seven caps away from his 50th, after this match.
Willie le Roux needs only five Test caps after Saturday's game to join the esteemed club of Springbok centurions.
The backline holds a collective 419 caps, with the forwards boasting 571 caps, and the bench adding another 190 caps. On average, the backline players have 59 caps, the forwards have 71, and the players on the bench average 23.

The Showdown

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handrė Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.

Reserves

16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

A Wealth of ExperienceQuintin Van Jaarsveld, a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year, brings over 15 years of experience in sports journalism. He has held positions such as sports editor, deputy editor, and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, covering an array of topics in South African rugby.

The midfield duo of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel are preparing to break the record for the most games played together in Springbok history, surpassing the previous record of 29 games set by Jean de Villiers and Jacque Fourie.
Rassie Erasmus, the Springbok coach, has opted for a lineup with a wealth of experience for their match against Ireland, with the starting XV holding the distinction of being the most experienced in South African history with an impressive aggregate of 990 Test caps.
In the European leagues, Willie le Roux is poised to join the esteemed club of Springbok centurions, needing only five more test caps after this weekend's match against Ireland.
The backline players in the Springboks team have a collective 419 caps, with the forwards boasting 571 caps and the bench adding another 190 caps, making for an average of 59 caps for the backline players, 71 for the forwards, and 23 for the players on the bench.