Springbok no. 705 · Lock

Victor Matfield

Victor Matfield · Blue Bulls, Toulon

127Tests

7Tries

12Tours

24Age at debut

Test career

200120082015

First test

30 Jun 2001, age 24 · Reserve v Italy, Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth

Last test

30 Oct 2015, age 38 · Lock v Argentina, Olympic Stadium, London

Biography

Victor Matfield is widely regarded as one of the greatest locks ever and a master of the line-out. Born in Pietersburg on 11 May 1977, he played for the Bulls and Toulon and won 127 caps between 2001 and 2015, then a South African record.

He was a key figure in the 2007 World Cup win, the 2009 series win over the British and Irish Lions and the Bulls’ Super Rugby titles. He captained South Africa 23 times. He came out of retirement in 2014 and played his last Test at the 2015 World Cup, his fourth tournament.

Test history

127 tests · 23 as captain · 35 points

Date	Opponent	Venue	Position	Result	Province
30 Jun 2001	Italy	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth	Reserve	W 60–14	Blue Bulls
21 Jul 2001	New Zealand	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	L 3–12	Blue Bulls
18 Aug 2001	Australia	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Lock	D 14–14	Blue Bulls
25 Aug 2001	New Zealand	Eden Park, Auckland	Lock	L 15–26	Blue Bulls
10 Nov 2001	France	Stade de France, Paris	Lock	L 10–20	Blue Bulls
17 Nov 2001	Italy	Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Genoa	Lock	W 54–26	Blue Bulls
24 Nov 2001	England	Twickenham, London	Lock	L 9–29	Blue Bulls
01 Dec 2001	USA	Robertson Stadium, UH, Houston	Lock	W 43–20	Blue Bulls
08 Jun 2002	Wales	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Lock	W 34–19	Blue Bulls
06 Jul 2002	Samoa	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	W 60–18	Blue Bulls
20 Jul 2002	New Zealand	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	Lock	L 20–41	Blue Bulls
27 Jul 2002	Australia	Wooloongabba, Brisbane	Lock	L 27–38	Blue Bulls
10 Aug 2002	New Zealand	Kings Park, Durban	Reserve	L 23–30	Blue Bulls
07 Jun 2003	Scotland	Kings Park, Durban	Lock	W 29–25	Blue Bulls
14 Jun 2003	Scotland	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock	W 28–19	Blue Bulls
28 Jun 2003	Argentina	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth	Lock	W 26–25	Blue Bulls
12 Jul 2003	Australia	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	W 26–22	Blue Bulls
19 Jul 2003	New Zealand	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	L 16–52	Blue Bulls
02 Aug 2003	Australia	Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane	Lock	L 9–29	Blue Bulls
09 Aug 2003	New Zealand	Carisbrook, Dunedin	Lock	L 11–19	Blue Bulls
11 Oct 2003	Uruguay	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Lock	W 72–6	Blue Bulls
18 Oct 2003	England	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Lock	L 6–25	Blue Bulls
01 Nov 2003	Samoa	Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane	Lock	W 60–10	Blue Bulls
08 Nov 2003	New Zealand	Docklands Stadium, Melbourne	Lock	L 9–29	Blue Bulls
12 Jun 2004	Ireland	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Lock	W 31–17	Blue Bulls
19 Jun 2004	Ireland	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	W 26–17	Blue Bulls
26 Jun 2004	Wales	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	W 53–18	Blue Bulls
14 Aug 2004	New Zealand	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock	W 40–26	Blue Bulls
21 Aug 2004	Australia	Kings Park, Durban	Lock	W 23–19	Blue Bulls
06 Nov 2004	Wales	Millennium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff	Lock	W 38–36	Blue Bulls
13 Nov 2004	Ireland	Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin	Lock	L 12–17	Blue Bulls
20 Nov 2004	England	Twickenham, London	Lock	L 16–32	Blue Bulls
27 Nov 2004	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Lock	W 45–10	Blue Bulls
04 Dec 2004	Argentina	Vélez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires	Lock	W 39–7	Blue Bulls
18 Jun 2005	France	Kings Park, Durban	Lock	D 30–30	Blue Bulls
25 Jun 2005	France	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth	Lock	W 27–13	Blue Bulls
09 Jul 2005	Australia	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Lock	L 12–30	Blue Bulls
23 Jul 2005	Australia	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock	W 33–20	Blue Bulls
30 Jul 2005	Australia	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	W 22–16	Blue Bulls
06 Aug 2005	New Zealand	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	W 22–16	Blue Bulls
20 Aug 2005	Australia	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Lock	W 22–19	Blue Bulls
27 Aug 2005	New Zealand	Carisbrook, Dunedin	Lock	L 27–31	Blue Bulls
05 Nov 2005	Argentina	Vélez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires	Lock	W 34–23	Blue Bulls
19 Nov 2005	Wales	Millennium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff	Lock	W 33–16	Blue Bulls
26 Nov 2005	France	Stade de France, Paris	Lock	L 20–26	Blue Bulls
10 Jun 2006	Scotland	Kings Park, Durban	Lock	W 36–16	Blue Bulls
17 Jun 2006	Scotland	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth	Lock	W 29–15	Blue Bulls
24 Jun 2006	France	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	L 26–36	Blue Bulls
15 Jul 2006	Australia	Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane	Lock	L 0–49	Blue Bulls
22 Jul 2006	New Zealand	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	Lock	L 17–35	Blue Bulls
05 Aug 2006	Australia	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Lock	L 18–20	Blue Bulls
26 Aug 2006	New Zealand	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	L 26–45	Blue Bulls
02 Sep 2006	New Zealand	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg	Lock	W 21–20	Blue Bulls
09 Sep 2006	Australia	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock	W 24–16	Blue Bulls
26 May 2007	England	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Lock	W 58–10	Blue Bulls
02 Jun 2007	England	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	W 55–22	Blue Bulls
16 Jun 2007	Australia	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	W 22–19	Blue Bulls
23 Jun 2007	New Zealand	Kings Park, Durban	Lock (C)	L 21–26	Blue Bulls
15 Aug 2007	Namibia	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock (C)	W 105–13	Blue Bulls
25 Aug 2007	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Lock (C)	W 27–3	Blue Bulls
09 Sep 2007	Samoa	Parc des Princes, Paris	Lock	W 59–7	Blue Bulls
14 Sep 2007	England	Stade de France, Paris	Lock	W 36–0	Blue Bulls
22 Sep 2007	Tonga	Stade Felix Bollaert, Lens	Reserve	W 30–25	Blue Bulls
30 Sep 2007	USA	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier	Lock	W 64–15	Blue Bulls
07 Oct 2007	Fiji	Stade Velodrome, Marseilles	Lock	W 37–20	Blue Bulls
14 Oct 2007	Argentina	Stade de France, Paris	Lock	W 37–13	Blue Bulls
20 Oct 2007	England	Stade de France, Paris	Lock	W 15–6	Blue Bulls
07 Jun 2008	Wales	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Reserve	W 43–17	Toulon
14 Jun 2008	Wales	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	W 37–21	Toulon
21 Jun 2008	Italy	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock (C)	W 26–0	Toulon
05 Jul 2008	New Zealand	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	Lock	L 8–19	Blue Bulls
12 Jul 2008	New Zealand	Carisbrook, Dunedin	Lock (C)	W 30–28	Blue Bulls
19 Jul 2008	Australia	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Lock (C)	L 9–16	Blue Bulls
09 Aug 2008	Argentina	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock (C)	W 63–9	Blue Bulls
16 Aug 2008	New Zealand	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock (C)	L 0–19	Blue Bulls
23 Aug 2008	Australia	Kings Park, Durban	Lock (C)	L 15–27	Blue Bulls
30 Aug 2008	Australia	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock (C)	W 53–8	Blue Bulls
08 Nov 2008	Wales	Millennium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff	Lock	W 20–15	Blue Bulls
15 Nov 2008	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Lock	W 14–10	Blue Bulls
22 Nov 2008	England	Twickenham, London	Lock	W 42–6	Blue Bulls
20 Jun 2009	Britain	Kings Park, Durban	Lock	W 26–21	Blue Bulls
27 Jun 2009	Britain	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	W 28–25	Blue Bulls
04 Jul 2009	Britain	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock	L 9–28	Blue Bulls
25 Jul 2009	New Zealand	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Lock	W 28–19	Blue Bulls
01 Aug 2009	New Zealand	Kings Park, Durban	Lock	W 31–19	Blue Bulls
08 Aug 2009	Australia	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	W 29–17	Blue Bulls
29 Aug 2009	Australia	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Lock	W 32–25	Blue Bulls
05 Sep 2009	Australia	Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane	Lock	L 6–21	Blue Bulls
12 Sep 2009	New Zealand	Waikato Stadium, Hamilton	Lock	W 32–29	Blue Bulls
13 Nov 2009	France	Stade Municipal, Toulouse	Lock	L 13–20	Blue Bulls
21 Nov 2009	Italy	Stadio Friuli, Udine	Reserve	W 32–10	Blue Bulls
28 Nov 2009	Ireland	Croke Park, Dublin	Lock	L 10–15	Blue Bulls
05 Jun 2010	Wales	Millennium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff	Lock	W 34–31	Blue Bulls
12 Jun 2010	France	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	W 42–17	Blue Bulls
19 Jun 2010	Italy	Puma Stadium, Witbank	Lock (C)	W 29–13	Blue Bulls
10 Jul 2010	New Zealand	Eden Park, Auckland	Lock	L 12–32	Blue Bulls
17 Jul 2010	New Zealand	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	Lock	L 17–31	Blue Bulls
24 Jul 2010	Australia	Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane	Lock	L 13–30	Blue Bulls
21 Aug 2010	New Zealand	National Stadium, Johannesburg	Lock	L 22–29	Blue Bulls
28 Aug 2010	Australia	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lock	W 44–31	Blue Bulls
04 Sep 2010	Australia	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Lock	L 39–41	Blue Bulls
06 Nov 2010	Ireland	Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin	Lock (C)	W 23–21	Blue Bulls
13 Nov 2010	Wales	Millennium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff	Lock (C)	W 29–25	Blue Bulls
20 Nov 2010	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Lock (C)	L 17–21	Blue Bulls
27 Nov 2010	England	Twickenham, London	Lock (C)	W 21–11	Blue Bulls
13 Aug 2011	Australia	Kings Park, Durban	Lock	L 9–14	Blue Bulls
20 Aug 2011	New Zealand	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	Lock (C)	W 18–5	Blue Bulls
11 Sep 2011	Wales	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	Lock	W 17–16	Blue Bulls
30 Sep 2011	Samoa	North Harbour Stadium, North Shore City	Lock (C)	W 13–5	Blue Bulls
09 Oct 2011	Australia	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	Lock	L 9–11	Blue Bulls
14 Jun 2014	Wales	Kings Park, Durban	Lock (C)	W 38–16	Blue Bulls
21 Jun 2014	Wales	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit	Lock (C)	W 31–30	Blue Bulls
28 Jun 2014	Scotland	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	Lock (C)	W 55–6	Blue Bulls
06 Sep 2014	Australia	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Lock	L 23–24	Blue Bulls
13 Sep 2014	New Zealand	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	Lock	L 10–14	Blue Bulls
27 Sep 2014	Australia	Newlands, Cape Town	Lock	W 28–10	Blue Bulls
04 Oct 2014	New Zealand	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lock	W 27–25	Blue Bulls
08 Nov 2014	Ireland	Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin	Lock	L 15–29	Blue Bulls
15 Nov 2014	England	Twickenham, London	Lock	W 31–28	Blue Bulls
22 Nov 2014	Italy	Stadio Euganeo, Padua	Lock	W 22–6	Blue Bulls
29 Nov 2014	Wales	Millennium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff	Lock	L 6–12	Blue Bulls
18 Jul 2015	Australia	Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane	Lock (C)	L 20–24	Blue Bulls
15 Aug 2015	Argentina	Vélez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires	Lock (C)	W 26–12	Blue Bulls
19 Sep 2015	Japan	Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton	Lock	L 32–34	Blue Bulls
26 Sep 2015	Samoa	Villa Park, Birmingham	Lock	W 46–6	Blue Bulls
24 Oct 2015	New Zealand	Twickenham, London	Reserve	L 18–20	Blue Bulls
30 Oct 2015	Argentina	Olympic Stadium, London	Lock (C)	W 24–13	Blue Bulls