List of South Africa national rugby union team captains

Every player to captain the South Africa national rugby union team (the Springboks) in a test match is listed here. Captains are listed in chronological order of their first match as captain.[1]

H.H. Castens captained South Africa on 30 July 1891 in their first ever test against the touring British Isles team at Crusaders Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth. John Smit holds the record as the most capped captain in international rugby history.

As of 30 November 2022
No. Player Initials Date of first test Date of first test as captain Tests played Tests played
as captain
1 Herbert Castens HH 30 July 1891 30 July 1891 1 1
2 Bob Snedden RCD 29 August 1891 29 August 1891 1 1
3 Alf Richards AR 30 July 1891 5 September 1891 1 1
4 Ferdie Aston F 30 July 1896 30 July 1896 4 3
5 Fairy Heatlie BH 9 August 1896 5 September 1896 6 2
6 Alex Frew A 29 August 1903 29 August 1903 1 1
7 Jackie Powell JM 19 August 1891 5 September 1903 4 1
8 Paddy Carolin HW 12 September 1903 17 November 1906 3 1
9 Paul Roos PJ 12 September 1903 24 November 1906 4 3
10 Dougie Morkel DFT 24 November 1906 6 August 1910 9 2
11 Billy Millar WA 8 December 1906 27 August 1910 6 5
12 Uncle Dobbin FJ 29 August 1904 23 November 1913 9 1
13 Theo Pienaar[Note 1] TB — 1921 — —
14 Boy Morkel WH 3 September 1910 13 August 1921 9 3
15 PK Albertyn PK 16 August 1924 16 August 1924 4 4
16 Phil Mostert PJ 13 August 1921 30 June 1928 14 4
17 Bennie Osler BL 16 August 1924 5 December 1931 17 5
18 Phil Nel PJ 30 June 1928 8 July 1933 16 8
19 Danie Craven DH 5 December 1931 14 August 1937 16 4
20 Felix du Plessis F 16 July 1949 16 July 1949 3 3
21 Basil Kenyon BJ 17 September 1949 17 September 1949 1 1
22 Hennie Muller HSV 16 July 1949 24 November 1951 13 9
23 Stephen Fry SP 24 November 1951 6 August 1955 13 4
24 Basie Vivier SS 26 May 1956 26 May 1956 5 5
25 Salty du Rand JA 13 August 1949 14 July 1956 21 1
26 Johan Claassen JT 6 August 1955 26 July 1958 28 9
27 Des van Jaarsveldt DC 30 April 1960 30 April 1960 1 1
28 Roy Dryburgh RG 20 August 1955 25 June 1960 8 2
29 Avril Malan AS 25 June 1960 13 August 1960 16 10
30 Abie Malan GF 16 August 1958 13 July 1963 18 4
31 Nelie Smith CM 24 August 1963 25 July 1964 7 4
32 Dawie de Villiers DJ 21 July 1962 31 July 1965 25 22
33 Tommy Bedford TP 13 July 1963 16 August 1969 25 3
34 Hannes Marais JFK 24 August 1963 12 June 1971 35 11
35 Piet Greyling PJF 15 July 1967 30 June 1972 25 1
36 Morné du Plessis[Note 2] M 17 July 1971 21 June 1975 22 15
37 Theuns Stofberg MTS 14 August 1976 18 October 1980 21 4
38 Wynand Claassen W 30 May 1981 30 May 1981 7 7
39 Divan Serfontein DJ 31 May 1980 20 October 1984 19 2
40 Naas Botha HE 26 April 1980 10 May 1986 23 9
41 Jannie Breedt JC 10 May 1986 26 August 1989 6 2
42 Francois Pienaar JF 26 June 1993 26 June 1993 29 29
43 Tiaan Strauss CP 17 October 1992 9 July 1994 15 1
44 Adriaan Richter AH 17 October 1992 30 May 1995 10 1
45 Gary Teichmann GH 2 September 1995 17 August 1996 42 36
46 Corné Krige CP 19 June 1999 19 June 1999 39 18
47 Rassie Erasmus J 5 July 1997 17 July 1999 36 1
48 Joost van der Westhuizen JH 6 November 1993 7 August 1999 89 10
49 André Vos AN 12 June 1999 10 October 1999 33 16
50 Bob Skinstad RB 29 November 1997 30 June 2001 42 12
51 John Smit JW 10 June 2000 24 October 2003 111 83
52 Victor Matfield[Note 3] V 30 June 2001 23 June 2007 125 21
53 Johann Muller GJ 10 June 2006 14 July 2007 22 1
54 Jean de Villiers J 9 November 2002 9 June 2012 109 37
55 Schalk Burger SWP 24 October 2003 25 July 2015 86 1
56 Fourie du Preez PF 12 June 2004 3 October 2015 76 2
57 Adriaan Strauss JA 19 July 2008 11 June 2016 57 3
58 Warren Whiteley[2] WR 6 September 2014 10 June 2017 23 2
59 Eben Etzebeth[3] E 9 June 2012 24 June 2017 106 12
60 Pieter-Steph du Toit[4] P 9 November 2013 2 June 2018 64 1
61 Siya Kolisi SK 16 June 2013 9 June 2018 75 45
62 Duane Vermeulen DJ 8 September 2012 27 July 2019 54 2
63 Schalk Brits SB 21 June 2008 17 August 2019 15 2
64 Handré Pollard H 28 June 2014 9 July 2022 65 1
65 Bongi Mbonambi MT 25 June 2016 5 August 2023 61 2

Notes

1 ^ Theo Pienaar was selected as captain for the tour but never played. He is listed as captain number 13 by the South African Rugby Annual, the official yearbook of the South African Rugby Union.[5]
2 ^ Felix and Morné du Plessis are the only father-son combination who captained South Africa.
3 ^ Victor Matfield returned as captain in June 2014 after Jean de Villiers was injured.

References
  1. "All 56 Springbok Captains". 1 October 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  2. "Oops! | SA Rugby".
  3. "Oops! | SA Rugby".
  4. "Du Toit, Kolisi Bok skippers 60 & 61 ... but who were the first 59?". 28 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  5. Heath, Duane; Grieb, Eddie; Smit, Kobus (2020). South African Rugby Annual 2020. Cape Town: South African Rugby Union. p. 208. ISBN 9780620872041.
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