More Springboks were BORN in THIS city than any other
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It may not matter where you were born, but it’s interesting to learn in which SA city more Springboks took their first breath than any other.
In the biggest picture it might not matter where they were born, but it’s still interesting to learn in which South African city more Springboks took their first breath than any other.
As of the conclusion of last year’s Rugby World Cup in France, 933 players have been capped at Springbok level.
Springbok No 1 was Benjamin Duff back in 1891, while Gerhard Steenekamp is the 933rd and most recent player to have donned the famed green and gold colours of the reigning world champions.
No fewer than 15 schools can count 10 or more Springboks as Old Boys.
As reported by The South African website, Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch has produced the most Springboks – including Paul Roos himself.
| Rank | School | Players |
| 1 | Paul Roos Gymnasium | 54 |
| 2 | Grey College | 46 |
| 3 | Bishops | 42 |
| 4 | SACS | 32 |
| 5 | Paarl Gimnasium | 30 |
| T6 | Kimberley Boys’ High | 23 |
| T6 | Paarl Boys’ High | 23 |
| 8 | Rondebosch | 21 |
| T9 | Grey High School | 17 |
| T9 | Maritzburg College | 17 |
| 11 | Wynberg Boys High | 16 |
| 12 | Dale College | 13 |
| 13 | St Andrew’s (Grahamstown) | 12 |
| T14 | Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool | 11 |
| T14 | Hottentots-Holland | 11 |
Click here for the full list of schools
Below, a look at the Top 14 cities in South Africa in which future Springboks were born.
Any surprises?
| Rank | City | Players |
| 1 | Cape Town | 68 |
| 2 | Pretoria | 46 |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 42 |
| 4 | Paarl | 35 |
| T5 | Kimberley | 27 |
| T5 | Port Elizabeth | 27 |
| 7 | Durban | 26 |
| 8 | Bloemfontein | 25 |
| 9 | Stellenbosch | 16 |
| T10 | King William’s Town | 14 |
| T10 | Potchefstroom | 14 |
| 12 | Somerset West | 13 |
| 13 | Krugersdorp | 11 |
| 14 | Ceres | 10 |
Meanwhile, among those 933 Springboks, any guesses as to which SURNAME has been the most common?
The answer is no ‘Van der Merwe’ joke!
Top 12 most common Springbok surnames:
| Rank | Surname | Number |
| 1 | Van der Merwe | 12 |
| 2 | Du Plessis | 11 |
| T3 | Louw | 10 |
| T3 | Morkel | 10 |
| T5 | Botha | 9 |
| T5 | Du Preez | 9 |
| T5 | Du Toit | 9 |
| T8 | Smith | 8 |
| T8 | Van Zyl | 8 |
| T10 | De Villiers | 7 |
| T10 | Le Roux | 7 |
| T10 | Muller | 7 |
These are the 12 Van der Merwe’s to have represented the Springboks (in alphabetical order):
| Name | Springbok # |
| Akker van der Merwe | 902 |
| Alvi van der Merwe | 221 |
| Bertus van der Merwe | 323 |
| Carel van der Merwe | 703 |
| Fiks van der Merwe | 273 |
| Flip van der Merwe | 818 |
| Flippie van der Merwe | 526 |
| Franco van der Merwe | 846 |
| Heinke van der Merwe | 790 |
| Johann van der Merwe | 433 |
| Marcel van der Merwe | 858 |
| Stompie van der Merwe | 365 |
Does your school feature on the list?
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