Springboks Bryan Habana
Scoring a try for the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup is an achievement coveted by all who have played the game in South Africa. Image: File

Home » Springboks: Their five biggest wins in Test rugby

Springboks: Their five biggest wins in Test rugby

Find out which five teams ended up on the wrong end of a mauling by the Springboks in these record-breaking fixtures.

22-11-23 11:13
Springboks Bryan Habana
Scoring a try for the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup is an achievement coveted by all who have played the game in South Africa. Image: File

Every team that takes on the Springboks knows they could be in for a battering on the pitch, but some also took a pounding on the scoreboard.

Here we look at the five biggest wins by the Springboks in Test rugby.

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5 83 (96–13) WALES LOFTUS VERSFELD STADIUM, PRETORIA 1998

Wales sent an inexperienced side to tour South Africa in 1998 and paid the price with a huge walloping that at the time was the biggest win by a Springboks side ever.

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Current director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus scored the first of the Springboks 15 tries on the night.

Pieter Rossouw scored a hat-trick and Percy Montgomery walked away with a personal points haul of 31 having kicked nine conversions and a penalty to go with a brace of tries.

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4 87 (87–0) NAMIBIA NORTH HARBOUR STADIUM, AUCKLAND 2011

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The Springboks were in no mood to be neighbourly to Namibia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup as they shut them out and put 87 points on the board.

Notably Bryan Habana became the Springboks all-time top tryscorer in this match.

Ruan Pienaar and Morne Steyn each converted six tries while the latter would also slot a penalty goal.

3 92 (105–13) NAMIBIA NEWLANDS STADIUM, CAPE TOWN 2007

The North Harbour thrashing fell short of what the Springboks had done to Namibia in a rare bilateral Test meeting between the neioghbours.

Two Springbok forwards scored hat-tricks in the same match for the first and only time in South African Test rugby history.

Schalk Burger and Juan Smith each scored three in a display of Springbok power that Namibia wouldn’t soon forget.

2 101 (101–0) ITALY KINGS PARK STADIUM, DURBAN 1999

Just a year on from the dismantling of Wales, a hapless Italy team were turned into chum in Durban’s shark cage.

The Springboks had beaten Italy 74-3 at Boet Erasmus the week before and this match felt like a continuation of that rout. Stefan Terblanche scored five tries which was then the record high for South Africa in a single match.

This was the Springboks biggest win for six years.

1 131 (134–3) URUGUAY BUFFALO CITY STADIUM, EAST LONDON 2005

In 2005 a new high mark was set as the Springboks mauled Uruguay in East London.

Tonderai Chavhanga ran in six tries in a dream debut for the Springboks and set a record for both the most tries on debut and the most tries by any Bok in a Test match.

The Boks ran in 21 tries, with 12 different players crossing the whitewash.