List of rugby union Test caps leaders

This is a list of the all-time leaders for caps in men's rugby union Test matches, with a minimum of 90 confirmed Test caps. Unlike in cricket, where both countries must grant Test status for a match to be considered a Test, rugby union requires only one nation to recognise a match as a Test in order for it to be included in Test statistics for that nation. The British and Irish Lions and Pacific Islanders do not represent one specific nation, but are also considered Test teams because they are selected by a group of recognised national unions. Some nations have sometimes granted Test caps for matches against teams such as the invitational Barbarians side; these are included only if the player's nation actually granted a Test cap for a particular match.

Players who are still active at international level, or who have not yet announced international retirement, are in bold. Players who are still active at club level but have either retired from international rugby or have not been selected for their national team for a year or more are in italics.

List

Last updated: 03 December 2016

Rank	Caps	Player	International team	First/Latest appearance	Primary position	Ref
1	148	Richie McCaw	New Zealand	2001–2015	Flanker	[1]
2	141	Brian O'Driscoll	Ireland (133) British and Irish Lions (8)	1999–2014	Centre	[2][3]
3	139	George Gregan	Australia	1994–2007	Scrum-half	[4][5]
4	134	Gethin Jenkins	Wales (129) British and Irish Lions (5)	2002–	Prop	[6]
5	132	Keven Mealamu	New Zealand	2002–2015	Hooker	[7]
6	130	Ronan O'Gara	Ireland (128) British and Irish Lions (2)	2000–2013	Fly-half	[8]
7	127	Victor Matfield	South Africa	2001–2015	Lock	[9]
8	124	Bryan Habana	South Africa	2004–	Wing	[10]
9	121	Sergio Parisse	Italy	2002–	Number 8	[11]
10	119	Martin Castrogiovanni	Italy	2002–	Prop	[12]
=	119	Jason Leonard	England (114) British and Irish Lions (5)	1990–2004	Prop	[13]
12	118	Fabien Pelous	France	1995–2007	Lock	[14]
=	118	Tony Woodcock	New Zealand	2002–2015	Prop	[15]
14	117	Stephen Moore	Australia	2005–	Hooker	[16]
15	116	Adam Ashley-Cooper	Australia	2005–	Centre / Wing	[17]
=	116	Nathan Sharpe	Australia	2002–2012	Lock	[18]
17	115	Paul O'Connell	Ireland (108) British and Irish Lions (7)	2002–2015	Lock	[19]
18	112	Marco Bortolami	Italy	2001–2015	Lock	[20]
=	112	Dan Carter	New Zealand	2003–2015	Fly-half	[21]
20	111	Alun Wyn Jones	Wales (105) British and Irish Lions (6)	2006–	Lock	[22]
=	111	Philippe Sella	France	1982–1995	Centre	[23]
=	111	John Smit	South Africa	2000–2011	Hooker[24]	[25]
=	111	George Smith	Australia	2000–2013	Flanker	[26][27]
24	110	Stephen Jones	Wales (104) British and Irish Lions (6)	1998–2011	Fly-half	[28]
25	109	Jean de Villiers	South Africa	2004–2015	Centre	[29]
=	109	Chris Paterson	Scotland	1999–2011	Utility back	[30]
27	107	John Hayes	Ireland (105) British and Irish Lions (2)	2000–2011	Prop	[31][32]
28	106	Mauro Bergamasco	Italy	1998–2015	Flanker	[33]
29	105	Sean Lamont	Scotland	2004–	Wing	[34]
30	104	Martyn Williams	Wales (100) British and Irish Lions (4)	1996–2012	Flanker	[35]
31	103	Ross Ford	Scotland (102) British and Irish Lions (1)	2004–	Hooker	[36]
=	103	Matt Giteau	Australia	2002–	Fly-half	[37]
=	103	Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina	Italy	2000–2013	Prop	[38]
=	103	Ma'a Nonu	New Zealand	2003–2015	Centre	[39]
=	103	Gareth Thomas	Wales (100) British and Irish Lions (3)	1995–2007	Utility back	[40][41]
36	102	Stephen Larkham	Australia	1996–2007	Fly-half	[4][42]
=	102	Percy Montgomery	South Africa	1997–2008	Fullback	[43]
38	101	David Campese	Australia	1982–1996	Wing	[44]
=	101	Alessandro Troncon	Italy	1994–2007	Scrum-half	[4][45]
=	101	Vasco Uva	Portugal	2003–	Flanker	[46]
41	100	Rory Best	Ireland	2005–	Hooker	[47]
=	100	Adam Jones	Wales (95) British and Irish Lions (5)	2002–2014	Prop	[48]
=	100	Mils Muliaina	New Zealand	2003–2011	Fullback	[49]
44	99	Mike Phillips	Wales (94) British and Irish Lions (5)	2003–2015	Scrum-half	[50]
=	99	Alessandro Zanni	Italy	2005–	Flanker	[51]
46	98	Raphaël Ibañez	France	1996–2007	Hooker	[52]
=	98	Merab Kvirikashvili	Georgia	2003-	Fullback
=	98	Donncha O'Callaghan	Ireland (94) British and Irish Lions (4)	2003–2013	Lock	[53]
=	98	Hitoshi Ono	Japan	2004–	Lock	[54]
=	98	Peter Stringer	Ireland	2000–2011	Scrum-half	[55]
51	97	Kieran Read	New Zealand	2008-	Number 8
=	97	Jonny Wilkinson	England (91) British and Irish Lions (6)	1998–2011	Fly-half	[56]
53	96	Colin Charvis	Wales (94) British and Irish Lions (2)	1996–2007	Flanker	[57]
=	96	Jamie Heaslip	Ireland (91) British and Irish Lions (5)	2006-	Number 8
=	96	Davit Kacharava	Georgia	2006-	Centre
=	96	Florin Vlaicu	Romania	2006-	Centre
57	95	Andrea Masi	Italy	1999–2015	Centre	[58]
58	94	Giorgi Chkhaidze	Georgia	2002-	Number 8
=	94	Conrad Smith	New Zealand	2004–2015	Centre	[59]
60	93	Serge Blanco	France	1980–1991	Fullback	[60]
=	93	Cătălin Fercu	Romania	2005–	Fullback	[39]
62	92	Sean Fitzpatrick	New Zealand	1986–1997	Hooker
=	92	Martin Johnson	England (84) British and Irish Lions (8)	1993–2003	Lock	[61][62]
=	92	Gareth Llewellyn	Wales	1989–2005	Lock	[63]
=	92	Malcolm O'Kelly	Ireland	1997–2009	Lock	[64]
=	92	Cristian Petre	Romania	2001–2012	Lock	[65]
67	91	Neil Jenkins	Wales (87) British and Irish Lions (4)	1990–2003	Fly-half	[66]
=	91	Rory Underwood	England (85) British and Irish Lions (6)	1984–1996	Wing	[67]
=	91	Shane Williams	Wales (87) British and Irish Lions (4)	2000–2011	Wing	[39]
70	90	Owen Franks	New Zealand	2009-	Prop
=	90	Gonçalo Uva	Portugal	2004–	Lock

Notes:

• Of the players known to have earned 90 or more caps, only five (Philippe Sella, David Campese, Serge Blanco, Sean Fitzpatrick, and Rory Underwood) were primarily active in the sport's amateur era. (On August 26, 1995 the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board, declared the game "open" to professionalism.^[68]) Only Blanco and Sella played Tests exclusively in the amateur era.
• Although the official site of the French Rugby Federation lists Olivier Magne with 90 caps, this is apparently in error. One of his Test appearances, a 1999 match against Wales, is counted twice in the list.^[69]

See also

• List of leading Rugby union Test try scorers
• List of leading Rugby union Test point scorers
• List of leading Rugby union drop goal scorers
• List of top English points scorers and try scorers

References

1. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Richie McCaw". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
2. "Ireland Squad: Brian O'Driscoll". Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
3. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Brian O'Driscoll / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
4. Bond, Karen, Rugby News Service (2007-10-19). "Thanks for the memories". International Rugby Board. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
5. "2007 Rugby World Cup Squad Profiles: George Gregan". Australian Rugby Union. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
6. "Gethin Jenkins". scrum.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
7. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Keven Mealamu". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
8. "Ireland Squad: Ronan O'Gara". Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
9. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Victor Matfield / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
10. "Bryan Habana Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
11. "Sergio Parisse". scrum.com. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
12. "Martin Gastrogiovanni". scrum.com. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
13. "Jason Leonard". International Rugby Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
14. "Tous les joueurs - PELOUS Fabien" (in French). French Rugby Federation. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
15. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Tony Woodcock / Test matches". All blacks.com. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
16. "Stephen Moore Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
17. "Adam Ashley-Cooper Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
18. "Sharpe refuses to lose his edge". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2011-10-21.
19. "Paul O'Connell". scrum.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
20. "Marco Bortolami". scrum.com. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
21. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Dan Carter / Test matches". All blacks.com. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
22. "Alun Wyn Jones Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
23. "Tous les joueurs - SELLA Philippe" (in French). French Rugby Federation. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
24. Smit returned to hooker in the Springboks' final 2009 Test against Ireland after having spent about a year as a tighthead prop. All but two of his caps from his debut through the 2008 mid-year Tests were at hooker. See his main reference for details.
25. "Statsguru / Player analysis / John Smit / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
26. "Statsguru / Player analysis / George Smith / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
27. "2008 Qantas Wallabies Squad Profiles: George Smith". Australian Rugby Union. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
28. "WRU Player Profile". WRU.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
29. "Jean de Villers Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
30. "Chris Paterson". ScotlandRugbyTeam.org. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
31. "John Hayes". Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
32. "John Hayes". British and Irish Lions. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
33. "Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
34. "Sean Lamont Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
35. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Martyn Williams / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2010-02-06. His international debut was a match against the Barbarians on 24 August 1996 for which Wales granted Test caps.
36. "Ross Ford". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
37. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Matt Giteau". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
38. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
39. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Shane Williams". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
40. "Wales Player Archive: Gareth Thomas". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
41. "Gareth Thomas". British & Irish Lions. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
42. "2007 Rugby World Cup Squad Profiles: Stephen Larkham". Australian Rugby Union. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
43. "Profiles: Percival Colin Montgomery". South African Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
44. "Australia's Top Tens: Leading Australia Test Caps". Australian Rugby Union. 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
45. "I giocatori della nazionale - Alessandro Troncon" (in Italian). Italian Rugby Federation. Archived from the original on 2008-01-12. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
46. "Vasco Uva Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
47. "Rory Best". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
48. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Adam Jones". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
49. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Mils Muliaina / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
50. "Statsguru / Test matches / Player records". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
51. "Alessandro Zanni". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
52. "Tous les joueurs - IBANEZ Raphael" (in French). French Rugby Federation. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
53. "Donnacha O'Callaghan". scrum.com. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
54. "Hitoshi Ono". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
55. "Ireland Squad: Peter Stringer". Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
56. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Jonny Wilkinson". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
57. "2003 Rugby World Cup Squad: Colin Charvis". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
58. "Andrea Masi". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
59. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Conrad Smith". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
60. "Tous les joueurs - BLANCO Serge" (in French). French Rugby Federation. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
61. "Martin Johnson". International Rugby Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
62. "Lion Legends: Martin Johnson". British and Irish Lions. 2008-02-06.
63. "Statsguru / Player analysis / Gareth Llewellyn / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-06-21. This total includes the aforementioned Barbarians match in 1996 that also marked the Wales debut of Martyn Williams.
64. "Ireland Squad: Malcolm O'Kelly". Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
65. "Cristian Petre". scrum.com. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
66. "2007-08 Wales Senior Squad Management: Neil Jenkins". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
67. "Rory Underwod MBE". UPH Ltd. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
68. Howitt, Bob (2005). SANZAR Saga - Ten Years of Super 12 and Tri-Nations Rugby. HarperCollins. p. 8. ISBN 1-86950-566-2.
69. "Tous les joueurs - MAGNE Olivier" (in French). French Rugby Federation. Retrieved 2008-02-05.

External links

• Scrum.com