Every player to captain the

South Africa national rugby union team The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

(the Springboks) in a test match is listed here. Captains are listed in chronological order of their first match as captain. H.H. Castens captained South Africa on 30 July 1891 in their first ever test against the touring

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...

team at Crusaders Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth. John Smit holds the record as the most capped captain in international rugby history.

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.
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 Jean de Villiers (born 24 February 1981) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He started his career at wing, but played most of his career as an inside centre. De Villiers previously played for Western Province in the ...

was injured.

References

{{South Africa national rugby union team

Captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...