Van Niekerk on the verge of his '50'
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:39
Springbok loose forward Joe Van Niekerk will be celebrating his 50th Test cap if he manages to get on the field off the bench against Argentina on Saturday.
Van Niekerk's debut in the green and gold of the Springboks came against the All Blacks at Newlands in 2001, and he has since gone on to represent his country a further 48 times - with the milestone of a half-century of Test matches firmly in his sights.
When Joe makes his appearance on the field in the No.19 jersey against Argentina, he will become only the thirteenth Springbok in history to notch up a half-ton of international matches.
Clearly 13 is a good number for the man who has scored eight Test tries for the Boks, as he has represented South Africa against no fewer than 13 countries during his seven-year Test career.
His 49 Tests to date have seen Van Niekerk gain 12 caps against each of the All Blacks and the Wallabies, with four caps against each of France and Scotland, 3 caps each against England and Wales, with the remaining matches being against Ireland, Italy, Samoa, Georgia, Uruguay and the USA.
Of his 49 appearances to date, the player has started 33 for his country - an impressive number, especially when one bears in mind that he was called up to the Bok team whilst still an Under-21 player.
Below is an interesting statistical summary of six key Tests in Van Niekerk's career thus far:
First Test: v New Zealand, Cape Town, 21 July 2001
10th Test: v Samoa, Pretoria, 6 July 2002
20th Test: v Uruguay, Perth, 11 October 2003
30th Test: v England, London, 20 November 2004
40th Test: v New Zealand, Dunedin, 27 August 2005
50th Test: v Argentina, Johannesburg, 9 August 2008
