This is a list of the appearance leaders in men's rugby union test matches, listing the 92 players with over one hundred test caps. 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.[citation needed] The British and Irish Lions and Pacific Islanders do not represent a single country, but they are selected by a group of national unions and are recognised as test teams. Some national teams have sometimes granted test caps for matches against teams such as the invitational Barbarians side; these are included only if the union granted test caps for a particular match.

List

As of 10 February 2024[1]
Bold Player is still active at international level.
Italics Player is still active at club level but has either retired from international rugby or has not been selected for their national team over a year.
Player has the record number of caps for their national team.
Rank Caps Player International team First/Latest
appearance		 Primary
position		 Ref(s)
1 170 Alun Wyn Jones  Wales (158)
 British and Irish Lions (12)		 2006–2023 Lock [2]
2 153 Sam Whitelock  New Zealand 2010–2023 Lock [3]
3 148 Richie McCaw  New Zealand 2001–2015 Flanker [3]
4 142 Sergio Parisse  Italy 2002–2019 Number 8 [3]
5 141 Brian O'Driscoll  Ireland (133)
 British and Irish Lions (8)		 1999–2014 Centre [4][5]
6 139 George Gregan  Australia 1994–2007 Scrum-half [6][7]
7 134 Gethin Jenkins  Wales (129)
 British and Irish Lions (5)		 2002–2018 Prop [8]
James Slipper  Australia 2010–present Prop [9]
9 132 Keven Mealamu  New Zealand 2002–2015 Hooker [10]
10 130 Ronan O'Gara  Ireland (128)
 British and Irish Lions (2)		 2000–2013 Fly-half [11]
11 129 Stephen Moore  Australia 2005–2017 Hooker [12]
Florin Vlaicu  Romania 2006–2022 Centre [13]
Ben Youngs  England (127)
 British and Irish Lions (2)		 2010–2023 Scrum-half [14][15]
14 127 Victor Matfield  South Africa 2001–2015 Lock [16]
Kieran Read  New Zealand 2008–2019 Number 8 [17]
16 126 Cian Healy  Ireland 2009–present Prop [18]
17 125 Michael Hooper  Australia 2012–2023 Flanker [19]
Aaron Smith  New Zealand 2012–2023 Scrum-half [20]
19 124 Rory Best  Ireland 2005–2019 Hooker [21]
Bryan Habana  South Africa 2004–2016 Wing [22]
Johnny Sexton  Ireland (118)
 British and Irish Lions (6)		 2009–2023 Fly-half [23][24]
22 123 Beauden Barrett  New Zealand 2012–2023 Fly-half [25]
23 122 Davit Kacharava  Georgia 2006–2020 Centre [26]
George North  Wales (119)
 British and Irish Lions (3)		 2010–present Wing [27][28]
25 121 Adam Ashley-Cooper  Australia 2005–2019 Centre / Wing [29]
Conor Murray  Ireland (113)
 British and Irish Lions (8)		 2011–present Scrum-half [30][31]
27 120 Yuri Kushnarev  Russia 2005–2021 Fly-half / Fullback
28 119 Martin Castrogiovanni  Italy 2002–2016 Prop [32]
Eben Etzebeth  South Africa 2012–present Lock [33]
Jason Leonard  England (114)
 British and Irish Lions (5)		 1990–2004 Prop [34]
Alessandro Zanni  Italy 2005–2020 Flanker [35]
32 118 Owen Farrell  England (112)
 British and Irish Lions (6)		 2012–present Fly-half [36][37]
Fabien Pelous  France 1995–2007 Lock [38]
Tony Woodcock  New Zealand 2002–2015 Prop [39]
35 117 Tendai Mtawarira  South Africa 2008–2019 Prop [40]
36 116 Nathan Sharpe  Australia 2002–2012 Lock [41]
37 115 Dan Biggar  Wales (112)
 British and Irish Lions (3)		 2008–2023 Fly-half [42][43]
Merab Kvirikashvili  Georgia 2003–2018 Fullback [44]
Paul O'Connell  Ireland (108)
 British and Irish Lions (7)		 2002–2015 Lock [45]
40 112 Marco Bortolami  Italy 2001–2015 Lock [46]
Dan Carter  New Zealand 2003–2015 Fly-half [47]
Dan Cole  England (109)
 British and Irish Lions (3)		 2010–present Prop
43 111 Ross Ford  Scotland (110)
 British and Irish Lions (1)		 2004–2017 Hooker [48]
Philippe Sella [a]  France 1982–1995 Centre [50]
John Smit  South Africa 2000–2011 Hooker[51] [52]
George Smith  Australia 2000–2013 Flanker [53][54]
47 110 Will Genia  Australia 2009–2019 Scrum-half [55]
Stephen Jones  Wales (104)
 British and Irish Lions (6)		 1998–2011 Fly-half [56]
Sekope Kepu  Australia 2008–2019 Prop [57]
Courtney Lawes  England (105)
 British and Irish Lions (5)		 2009–2023 Flanker
51 109 Jean de Villiers  South Africa 2002–2015 Centre [58]
Taulupe Faletau  Wales (104)
 British and Irish Lions (5)		 2011–present Number 8 [59][60]
Cătălin Fercu  Romania 2005–2020 Fullback [61]
Chris Paterson  Scotland 1999–2011 Fullback / Wing [62]
Brodie Retallick  New Zealand 2012–2023 Lock
Alexander Todua  Georgia 2008–present Wing
57 108 Agustin Creevy  Argentina 2005–2023 Hooker [63]
Owen Franks  New Zealand 2009–2019 Prop
59 107 Leonardo Ghiraldini  Italy 2006–2020 Hooker
Victor Gresev  Russia 2006–2022 Flanker
John Hayes  Ireland (105)
 British and Irish Lions (2)		 2000–2011 Prop [64][65]
Florin Surugiu  Romania 2008– Scrum-half
63 106 Mauro Bergamasco  Italy 1998–2015 Flanker [66]
Rob Simmons  Australia 2010–2020 Lock
65 105 Leigh Halfpenny  Wales (101)
 British and Irish Lions (4)		 2008–2023 Fullback
Sean Lamont  Scotland 2004–2016 Wing [67]
67 104 Mihai Macovei  Romania 2006–2023 Flanker
Diego Magno  Uruguay 2008–present Lock
Nicolas Sanchez  Argentina 2010–2023 Fly-half
Martyn Williams  Wales (100)
 British and Irish Lions (4)		 1996–2012 Flanker [68]
71 103 Matt Giteau  Australia 2002–2016 Fly-half [69]
Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina  Italy 2000–2013 Prop [70]
Shalva Mamukashvili  Georgia 2011–present Hooker
Ma'a Nonu  New Zealand 2003–2015 Centre [71]
Peter O'Mahony  Ireland (102)
 British and Irish Lions (1)		 2012–present Flanker
Gareth Thomas  Wales (100)
 British and Irish Lions (3)		 1995–2007 Utility back [72][73]
77 102 Jonathan Davies  Wales (96)
 British and Irish Lions (6)		 2009–2022 Centre
Stuart Hogg  Scotland (100)
 British and Irish Lions (2)		 2012–2023 Fullback
Stephen Larkham  Australia 1996–2007 Fly-half [6][74]
Percy Montgomery  South Africa 1997–2008 Fullback [75]
Alessandro Troncon  Italy 1994–2007 Scrum-half [6][76]
82 101 David Campese [a]  Australia 1982–1996 Wing [77]
Keith Earls  Ireland 2008–2023 Wing
Gonçalo Uva  Portugal 2004–2018 Lock
Vasco Uva  Portugal 2003–2016 Flanker [78]
86 100 Valentin Calafeteanu  Romania 2004–2019 Scrum-half
Giorgi Chkhaidze  Georgia 2002–2017 Number 8
Andrey Garbuzov  Russia 2005–2020 Flanker
Jamie Heaslip  Ireland (95)
 British and Irish Lions (5)		 2006–2017 Number 8
Adam Jones  Wales (95)
 British and Irish Lions (5)		 2002–2014 Prop [79]
Lasha Malaghuradze  Georgia 2008–2023 Fly-half
Mils Muliaina  New Zealand 2003–2011 Fullback [80]
Merab Sharikadze  Georgia 2012-present Centre

Notes

  1. ^ a b Primarily active during rugby's amateur era, before the IRB declared the game "open" to professionalism on 26 August 1995.[49]

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Alun Wyn Jones Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
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  4. ^ "Ireland Squad: Brian O'Driscoll". Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  5. ^ "Statsguru / Player analysis / Brian O'Driscoll / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  6. ^ a b c Bond, Karen, Rugby News Service (2007-10-19). "Thanks for the memories". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-02-05.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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  8. ^ "Gethin Jenkins Career figures". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  9. ^ "James Slipper". Wallabies Rugby. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
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  15. ^ "#799 BEN YOUNGS". British & Irish Lions. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Statsguru / Player analysis / Victor Matfield / Test matches". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  17. ^ "Kieran Read Scrum.com". Scrum.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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