All the stats and facts for the second World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Wales in Yokohama on Sunday.
– Wales have won each of their past four test encounters with South Africa, after winning only two of their first 31 against the Boks.
– South Africa’s last victory over Wales came in the quarter-finals at the 2015 World Cup. The Boks won the game courtesy of a 75th-minute Fourie du Preez try.
– South Africa won each of the previous two World Cup meetings between these countries, 17-16 in the pool phase and 23-19 in the quarter-finals, both in 2015.
– Handre Pollard scored 18 of South Africa’s 23 points in that quarter-final four years ago, the other five points were scored by Fourie du Preez.
– Eight of the players in South Africa’s current squad started against Wales in their quarter-final triumph at RWC 2015. A ninth –Pieter-Steph du Toit – came off the bench.
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– South Africa and New Zealand are the only World Cup opponents Wales have never beaten at a World Cup.
– Pieter-Steph du Toit, Steven Kitshoff and Elton Jantjies are the only Springboks to feature in all four recent defeats against Wales.
– South Africa’s Makazole Mapimpi and Wales’ Josh Adams, along with Japan’s Kotaro Matsushima are the tournament’s joint top try scorers, with five each.
– Only Bryan Habana (eight in 2007) scored more tries for South Africa in a single World Cup than Mapimpi has in this one (five).
– Mapimpi has scored 13 tries in 12 Test appearances, with nine of those coming in 2019. Only Japan’s Matsushima has scored as many this calendar year (9).
– South Africa are in the World Cup semi-finals for the fifth time. Including this year’s tournament, only New Zealand (eighth), Australia (six) and France (six) have reached this stage more often.
– No team in World Cup history has lost a match in a tournament and then gone on to win it.
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– This is only the fourth time in 25 matches under Rassie Erasmus that South Africa have gone with a 6/2 forwards-to-backs ratio on the bench.
– Nine players of the match 23 remain from the quarter-final of Rugby World Cup 2015 when South Africa defeated Wales 23- 19. They are Tendai Mtawarira, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Duane Vermeulen, Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende, Willie Le Roux and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
– Tendai Mtawarira is the only member of the starting XV who also started the 2011 World Cup group stage match against Wales. Frans Steyn, who started at 15 eight years ago, is on the bench for this match.
– Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard are the starting halfbacks for the 15th time since the start of 2018. Only Ireland’s Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton (16) have started together more in that period.
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– Damian de Allende will have the second most starts at Rugby World Cups for any South African centre (11), behind Jaque Fourie (13).
– Wales have already beaten Australia at the 2019 World Cup. Only one northern hemisphere team (England with wins over the Boks and Wallabies in 2003) has previously managed two wins over the Tri-Nations sides (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) at a single World Cup.
– Wales lost both of their previous World Cup semi-finals. Wales, Argentina and Scotland are the only teams that have reached the semi-finals, but have never reached the final.
– Following the quarter-finals, Wales were the only side at the 2019 World Cup to have won five matches in the tournament.
– The previous two World Cup matches between Wales and South Africa featured winning margins of one and four respectively. Wales have also been involved in a record five RWC matches that were decided by a single point.
– Paul Moriarty, father of Ross Moriarty, started for Wales in their 1987 semi-final. Paul and Ross could become the first father-son pairing to feature in the semi-finals of a World Cup.
– Alun Wyn Jones will become the sixth player to feature in a 20th World Cup match and the first to do so for Wales. He will play also play in his 142nd Test for Wales and the British & Irish Lions, equalling Sergio Parisse’s record for a player from the Six Nations (142); the only player who has played more Tests is former All Black Richie McCaw (148).
Photo: Mike Egerton/PA Images
