Veteran lock Victor Matfield was on Friday named skipper of the Springbok rugby squad to tour the British Isles next month.
Embattled South Africa coach Peter de Villiers also confirmed that flanker Juan Smith would be the tour vice-captain.
“With John Smit being injured and unavailable for such a challenging and important tour we obviously needed Victor’s leadership qualities,” said De Villiers.
“He has filled the role in the past with distinction and has led the Vodacom Bulls and Blue Bulls to a string of titles and has been Springbok vice-captain for a number of years.
“We’re aware of his workload this season and we’ll manage him accordingly.”
De Villiers is under pressure after a disastrous Tri-Nations tournament yielded just one win from six outings against New Zealand and Australia.
The world champions face Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England on consecutive Saturdays from November 6.
Winston
Guest
He certainly leads the bulls well. He's a good choice
Ben S
Roar Guru
I'm sure he could do a few things, katzilla: (i) stop being so obstinate/arrogant/idiotic (ii) stop pursuing the kick-chase game plan (iii) tweak the team selection (iv) get some consistent wins
katzilla
Roar Guru
PDV can't do anything that will have people change their minds about him. He's on a lose lose. Although the one thing he could do right is get Yolandi Visser to sing the anthem, that womans voice is enchanting.
Ben S
Roar Guru
South Africa brought their strongest side last season, on the back of their best 3N ever, and still lost. Bearing in mind the 3N they have had this season this is a huge tour for the Springboks, in so many ways.
Chunks
Roar Pro
If they wanted to look to the future, particularly the world cup, they would have named Juan Smith as Captain. He is inspirational and will certainly, barring injury, be there this time next year. The same cannot be said for Matfield or Smit.
Stash
Guest
With morale low - Matfield is probably one of the only players that could lift the team. I'm not convinced that he is the best man for the job come 2011, and its not guaranteed that Smit will make the squad next year. Juan Smith had a couple of very good games this year (is he captain material though). Burger would have been a good option. Captains tend to get more leniency than other players so it would probably assist in bringing down his yellow card average. Or is Burger's starting position at risk? The Boks don't travel well. PDV will need wins under his belt so he's more likely to field a stronger team rather than experimenting which South Africa seem to do on these EOYT.
Hayden
Guest
Matfield has not impressed when captaining the Boks in the past. He seems to do an Elsom, gets frustrated easily and argues with the ref.