To see the team that will take on Japan on Friday, click here, or follow this link to read Rassie Erasmus's comments on the Test.

Facts and Stats

• This is the Springboks’ first Test match in Japan and the second time the teams have met.
• Japan were the opponents in the Springboks’ opening match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in Brighton, a seaside resort in the county of East Sussex, England.
• On Saturday, 19 September, 2015, Japan defeated Jean de Villiers’ Springboks by two points in the dying moments of the match.
• Japan are the only nation that can boast a positive winning percentage against the Springboks, other than New Zealand.

Head to head v Japan

Played: 1; Lost: 1; Points for: 32; Points against: 34; Tries for: 4; Tries against: 3; Win%: 0%

Team records against Japan

• Most points: 32
• Most tries: 4
• Most conversions: 3
• Most penalty goals: 2

Individual records against Japan

• Most points: 7 – Patrick Lambie
• Most tries: 1 – By four players
• Most conversions: 2 – Patrick Lambie
• Most penalty goals: 1 – Patrick Lambie and Handré Pollard

Miscellaneous

• There are eight players in Friday’s match-23 who also played in the Test in Brighton. They are Jesse Kriel, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Francois Louw, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Siya Kolisi, Handré Pollard and Eben Etzebeth.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 527.
• There are 183 caps in the backline with 344 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 369 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline are 26, the forwards 43 while the players on the bench average 46.
• The average age of the starting fifteen is 27.

Milestones

• Pieter-Steph du Toit will play in his 50^th Test match.

Match officials

• The referee is Nic Berry of Australia. This will be his second Test as a referee of a match involving South Africa and the 11^th Test of his career.
• The assistant referees are Ben O’Keefe of New Zealand and Graham Cooper of Australia. Shane McDermott (NZ) is the TMO.