List of rugby union test caps leaders


This is a list of the appearance leaders 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

RankCapsPlayerInternational teamFirst/Latest
appearance
Primary
position
1148Richie McCaw2001–2015Flanker
2147Alun Wyn Jones
2006–Lock
3142Sergio Parisse2002–2019Number 8
4141Brian O'Driscoll
1999–2014Centre
5139George Gregan1994–2007Scrum-half
6134Gethin Jenkins
2002–2018Prop
7132Keven Mealamu2002–2015Hooker
8130Ronan O'Gara
2000–2013Fly-half
9129Stephen Moore2005–2017Hooker
10127Victor Matfield2001–2015Lock
10127Kieran Read2008–2019Number 8
12124Rory Best2005–2019Hooker
12124Bryan Habana2004–2016Wing
12124Florin Vlaicu2006–Centre
15122Davit Kacharava2006–Centre
16121Adam Ashley-Cooper2005–2019Centre / Wing
17119Martin Castrogiovanni2002–2016Prop
17119Jason Leonard
1990–2004Prop
17119Alessandro Zanni2005–2020Flanker
19118Fabien Pelous1995–2007Lock
19118Tony Woodcock2002–2015Prop
22117Tendai Mtawarira2008–2019Prop
22117Sam Whitelock2010–2019Lock
24116Nathan Sharpe2002–2012Lock
25115Yuri Kushnarev2005–Fullback
25115Merab Kvirikashvili2003–2018Fullback
25115Paul O'Connell
2002–2015Lock
28112Marco Bortolami2001–2015Lock
28112Dan Carter2003–2015Fly-half
30111Ross Ford
2004–2017Hooker
30111Philippe Sella1982–1995Centre
30111John Smit2000–2011Hooker
30111George Smith2000–2013Flanker
34110Will Genia2009–2019Scrum-half
34110Stephen Jones
1998–2011Fly-half
34110Sekope Kepu2008–2019Prop
37109Jean de Villiers2004–2015Centre
37109Cătălin Fercu2005–Fullback
37109Chris Paterson1999–2011Full-back
40108Owen Franks2009–2019Prop
41107John Hayes
2000–2011Prop
42106Mauro Bergamasco1998–2015Flanker
43105Sean Lamont2004–2016Wing
44104Leonardo Ghiraldini2006–2019Hooker
44104Martyn Williams
1996–2012Flanker
46103Matt Giteau2002–2016Fly-half
46103Victor Gresev2006–Flanker
46103Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina2000–2013Prop
46103Ma'a Nonu2003–2015Centre
46103Gareth Thomas
1995–2007Utility back
51102Stephen Larkham1996–2007Fly-half
51102Percy Montgomery1997–2008Fullback
53101David Campese1982–1996Wing
53101Alessandro Troncon1994–2007Scrum-half
53101Gonçalo Uva2004–2018Lock
53101Vasco Uva2003–2016Flanker
53101Ben Youngs
2010-Scrum-half
57100Valentin Calafeteanu2004–Scrum-half
57100Giorgi Chkhaidze2002–2017Number 8
57100Andrey Garbuzov2005–Flanker
57100Jamie Heaslip
2006–2017Number 8
57100Adam Jones
2002–2014Prop
57100Mils Muliaina2003–2011Fullback
57100Rob Simmons2010-Lock
6599Michael Hooper2012–Flanker
6599Lasha Malaguradze2008–Fly-half
6599Mike Phillips
2003–2015Scrum-half
6898Dan Cole
2010-2019Prop
6898Cian Healy2009-Prop
6898Raphaël Ibañez1996–2007Hooker
6898Rob Kearney
2007-2019Fullback
6898George North
2010-Wing
6898Donncha O'Callaghan
2003–2013Lock
6898Hitoshi Ono2004-2016Lock
6898Peter Stringer2000–2011Scrum-half
7697Dylan Hartley2008–2018Hooker
7697Jamie Roberts
2008–2017Centre
7697Jonathan Sexton
2009-Fly-half
7697Jonny Wilkinson
1998–2011Fly-half
8096Colin Charvis
1996–2007Flanker
8096James Slipper2010-Prop
8295Andrea Masi1999–2015Centre
8295Giorgi Nemsadze2005–2019Lock
8494Conrad Smith2004–2015Centre
8593Vasily Artemyev2009-Fullback
8593Serge Blanco1980–1991Fullback
8593Leigh Halfpenny
2008-Fullback
8892Kurtley Beale2009-Fullback
8892Sean Fitzpatrick1986–1997Hooker
8892Martin Johnson
1993–2003Lock
8892Gareth Llewellyn1989–2005Lock
8892Diego Magno2008–Lock
8892Malcolm O'Kelly1997–2009Lock
8892Cristian Petre2001–2012Lock
8892Aaron Smith2012-Scrum-half
8892Rory Underwood
1984–1996Wing
9791Neil Jenkins
1990–2003Fly-half
9791Shane Williams
2000–2011Wing
9990Tatafu Polota-Nau2005-2019Hooker

Notes: