1910 — Wing Wally Mills, one of seven debutants in the Springbok team, scores his side’s lone try as South Africa go down to Britain 3-8 at Crusader’s in Port Elizabeth in the second Test. The visitors scored two tries and a conversion to level the three-match series at 1-1.
1921 — Fullback Gerhard Morkel kicks a drop to clinch the Springboks’ first-ever victory over New Zealand. He also converted centre Billy Sendin’s try as South Africa won the second Test at Eden Park in Auckland 9-5 to square the three-match series 1-1.
1960 — Flanker Martin Pelser scores a second-half try as the Springboks beat New Zealand 8-3 in the fourth and final Test at the Boet Erasmus stadium in Port Elizabeth to clinch the series 2-1. Scrumhalf Dick Lockyear converted the try to kicked a penalty. Fullback Don Clarke slotted a penalty for the visitors.
1977 — Flanker Theuns Stofberg scores two tries as the Springboks beat a World XV 45-24 at Loftus Versfeld. South Africa dotted down six times to their opponents’ four in an entertaining match where Western Province flyhalf Robbie Blair, winning his sole international cap, slotted three conversions and five penalties. He was one of eight debutants on the day, including stalwart lock Louis Moolman.
1978 — Kork Ballington claims his third double of the season as he wins the 250cc and 350cc races at the Czechoslovakian grand prix in Brno. Having already wrapped up the 350cc world championship, the 250cc victory put him in pole position with one race remaining.
1994 — Daryll Cullinan top-scores with 54 as South Africa limp to 181/9 off 55 overs in the second and final ODI against England in Manchester before losing by four wickets with 40 balls remaining, losing the series 0-2.
1997 — Cyclist JP van Zyl wins South Africa’s first world track championship medal of the modern era, taking silver in the keirin in Perth. The Potchefstroom cyclist initially finished fourth, but the two riders ahead of him were disqualified for what was termed irregular movement to prevent an opponent from passing, which promoted Van Zyl to second spot.
2000 — The Proteas win the final of a triangular tournament in Singapore when they thump Pakistan by 93 runs on Duckworth-Lewis. Opener Gary Kirsten scored 62 and Nicky Boje 54 to push South Africa to 197/7 off 35 overs. Pakistan, needing 215 off 35 overs, were all out for 121.
2004 — Prolific striker Greg Nicol scores his 245th goal for South Africa against Great Britain at the Athens Olympics. The match to determine ninth spot went to penalties after ending 1-1. Nicol, who had come out of retirement for the Games, scored in the shoot-out as well, but South Africa lost 4-3 after leading 3-2 following the first three rounds of penalty flicks. Nicol retired permanently after that, with 200 caps, but his career haul remains the national record.
2005 — The Springboks lose their Tri-Nations crown as they go down 27-31 to the All Blacks in Dunedin. Centre Jaque Fourie, wing Bryan Habana and scrumhalf Ricky Januarie scored tries against the run of play to set up what appeared to be an unlikely victory for the visitors. But hooker Keven Mealamu went over late for the Kiwis’ fourth try to deny SA.
2014 — AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis score rapid-fire centuries as the Proteas beat Australia in a triangular ODI in Harare. Chasing 328 for victory, De Villiers struck an unbeaten 136 from 106 deliveries and Du Plessis made 106 off 98 balls.
2015 — Anaso Jobodwana dips under 20 seconds for the only time in his career to take the 200m bronze medal behind Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin at the world championships in Beijing. Jobodwana clocked 19.87 sec, breaking the 19.94 South African record Wayde van Niekerk had posted the previous month. Injury scuppered his bid to make the Olympic podium the following year.
2016 — Bryan Habana scores his 65th Test try, but it’s not enough to save the Springboks from a 24-26 Rugby Championship defeat to Argentina in Salta. That five-pointer made Habana the leading international try-scorer among top nations, but not of all time, still trailing Japan’s Daisuke Ohata on 68.
2017 — Caster Semenya clocks a 600m world best, running the non-Olympic distance in 1 min 21.77 sec in Berlin.
2022 — The Proteas are bowled out for 179 as England win second Test in Manchester by an innings and 85 runs to draw level at 1-1 in the three-match series.
2022 — Kwagga Smith scores two late tries as the Springboks go down 17-25 against Australia in a Rugby Championship match in Adelaide.
2024 — Tristan Stubbs smashes 40 off 15 balls to help the Proteas to 108/4, but South Africa lose the third and final T20 at Tarouba against West Indies by eight wickets to go down 0-3 in the series.
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