List of rugby union Test caps leaders

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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. A Test is a game played between played two national representative teams that both have "Test status".

Players who are still active at international level, or who have not yet announced international retirement, are in bold. Players who have retired from international rugby but are still active at club level are in italics.

1 The list
2 Patterns
3 Note
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] The list

Rank	Caps	Player	International team	Years	Source(s)
1	139	George Gregan	Australia	1994–2007	^[1]^[2]
2	119	Jason Leonard	England (114) British and Irish Lions (5)	1990–2004	^[3]
3	118	Fabien Pelous	France	1995–2007	^[4]
4	111	Philippe Sella	France	1982–1995	^[5]
5	103	Gareth Thomas	Wales (100) British and Irish Lions (3)	1995–	^[6]^[7]
6	102	Stephen Larkham	Australia	1996–2007	^[1]^[8]
7	101	David Campese	Australia	1982–1996	^[9]
7	101	Alessandro Troncon	Italy	1994–2007	^[1]^[10]
9	98	Raphaël Ibañez	France	1996–2007	^[11]
10	96	Colin Charvis	Wales (94) British and Irish Lions (2)	1996–	^[12]
11	95	Percy Montgomery	South Africa	1997–	^[13]
12	93	Serge Blanco	France	1980–1991	^[14]
13	92	Sean Fitzpatrick	New Zealand	1986–1997	^[15]
13	92	Martin Johnson	England (84) British and Irish Lions (8)	1993–2003	^[16]^[17]
13	92	Gareth Llewellyn	Wales	1989–2005	^[18]
16	91	Neil Jenkins	Wales (87) British and Irish Lions (4)	1990–2003	^[19]
16	91	Malcolm O'Kelly	Ireland	1997–	^[20]
16	91	Rory Underwood	England (85) British and Irish Lions (6)	1984–1996	^[21]
Last updated: June 7, 2008.

[edit] Patterns

A review of this list reveals several interesting patterns. Many of them focus on the date of August 26, 1995, when the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board, declared the game "open" to professionalism.^[22]

Of the 18 players known to have earned 90 or more caps, only five—Philippe Sella and Serge Blanco of France, David Campese of Australia, Sean Fitzpatrick of New Zealand, and Rory Underwood of England and the Lions—were primarily active in the sport's amateur era. Only Blanco and Sella played Tests exclusively in the amateur era; Sella's final Test was in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, two months before the sport went professional.^[5] Sella's career neatly bookends that of the man who broke his record for France caps, Fabien Pelous; the latter's first cap was in October 1995.^[4]
Including Pelous, six players on this list have played Tests exclusively in the professional era. Gareth Thomas also debuted in 1995; however, unlike Pelous, he made his first appearance in the amateur era, making his Test debut in the 1995 World Cup.^[6] Two more debuted in 1994 and one in 1993.
Seven of these players made their last Test appearance in 2007, with six of them making their last Test appearance at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
- Five players announced their retirement either before or shortly after the World Cup, and made their last appearance in that tournament. In descending order of caps, they are George Gregan,^[1] Fabien Pelous,^[23] Stephen Larkham,^[1] Alessandro Troncon,^[1] and Raphaël Ibañez.^[24]
- Gareth Thomas made his last appearance to date in the pool stage of the Rugby World Cup;^[6] he did not play in Wales' post-World Cup Test against South Africa.^[25] Although he has yet to announce his international retirement, he was not named to the Wales squad for the 2008 Six Nations.^[26]
- Colin Charvis also played for Wales in the World Cup, but played in the following South Africa Test, and set the all-time record for career Test tries by a forward in that match.^[27] However, he also was not selected for the 2008 Six Nations squad.^[26]
Only two players on this list have appeared in a Test in 2008. Malcolm O'Kelly of Ireland played in two 2008 Six Nations matches,^[20] and Percy Montgomery was named to the Springboks for their mid-year Test squad, playing in the Boks' first Test against Wales (and scoring a try).^[28]

[edit] Note

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.^[29]