Hooker John Smit has been reappointed as captain of South Africa by new coach Peter de Villiers.

Smit, 29, who plays his club rugby for French side Clermont Auvergne, captained the Springboks to World Cup glory in France last year.

“To be offered the chance to continue with the Springboks is a challenge I would never refuse,” he said.

De Villiers added: “He has global respect and he has the desire to add to what was achieved in France last year.”
 
Smit has captained the Springboks in a record 49 Tests since 2003 and was captain of the side for the whole of previous coach Jake White’s time in charge.

“This is a new chapter for Springbok rugby, but I believe we must build on the success of the World Cup and it made sense to me to further invest in John’s excellent leadership and his ability as a player,” said de Villiers.

World Cup holders South Africa have named 50-year-old Peter de Villiers as their new coach.
 
The former Emerging Springboks coach led the Under-21 squad to the IRB World Championship in 2005.

Many had expected former Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer to replace Jake White, whose contract expired on 31 December.

But Johan Prinsloo, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) chief executive, said De Villiers was “a strong leader, a coach with proven track record”.

Oregan Hoskins, SARU president, admitted that the desire to broaden the racial base of rugby in South Africa was a factor in appointing De Villiers as the first black person to coach the Springboks.

“I want to be honest with South Africa and say the appointment did not take into account only rugby reasons,” he said.

“We took into account the issue of transformation in rugby very, very seriously when we took the decision.”

De Villiers, who has been given an initial two-year contract, said: “You dream of being a Springbok player and if you can’t be a player you dream of being a Springbok coach and that has become a reality for me now.

“I am very privileged to be in this position of taking over a great squad of players but this is where the hard work begins. To make wholesale changes would be stupid.”

Former South Africa assistant coach Allister Coetzee and former Super 12 Cats coach Chester Williams were the others on the four-man shortlist.

Meyer, the most successful South African provincial coach of the post-isolation era was favourite for the job among players.

He had received 77 percent of the vote among 258 members of the South African Rugby Players’ Association (SARPA).

De Villiers’ first Test match in charge will be against Wales in Bloemfontein on June 7.

Allister Coetzee, Peter de Villiers, Heyneke Meyer and Chester Williams must wait until next month to find out who will become South Africa’s new coach. The South African Rugby Union will announce their new coach on 9 January, two days after interviewing the four shortlisted candidates.

The interviews had been scheduled for the first week of December.

The four are in line to succeed World Cup winning Jake White whose contract expires on 31 December.

South Africa’s World Cup-winning year ended with a defeat as a tired-looking side were outplayed by the Barbarians.

Matt Giteau opened the scoring with a typical Barbarian counter-attack try as the visitors failed to make the most of their early pressure at Twickenham.

Barend Pieterse’s try gave South Africa hope but tries either side of the break by Martyn Williams and Rocky Elsom ended hopes of a Springbok revival.

Jason Robinson set up a try and earned a standing ovation on his farewell.

South Africa’s Ryan Kankowski came close to the opening try when he broke free and charged up the left wing following a scrappy Mark Regan line-out throw.

But Joe Rokocoko’s superbly-timed tackle knocked him into touch inches short of the line.

That break camped South Africa on the Baa-Baas line, and it just looked like a matter of time before they scored.

But when the try came, it was a thrilling Barbarian breakaway, after an uncharacteristic handling mistake by Habana.

Ma’a Nonu and Giteau combined well to set up Conrad Smith to cover half the pitch, and he looked to have lost the initiative before off-loading to Rokocoko, whose pass put Giteau over to touch down.

Nonu wasted two good chances to add to that advantage before Schalk Burger’s late replacement Pieterse finished off a Habana-inspired attack to put South Africa on the scoreboard.

But when Francois Steyn’s ill-judged kick went straight down the throat of Robinson, making his final appearance on the world stage, it just set up the next Baa-Baas try.

His electric burst brought the crowd to its feet and set up Williams for a slick finish just before the break, and when Elsom added another straight after the restart, the Barbarians were out of sight.

The death of the match as a competitive event coincided with rain setting in, and the spark of the first half was lost as the conditions grew worse.

Pride meant that South Africa began to treat the game more like a competitive Test, but for all their efforts and pressure, they rarely had try-scoring chances.

With 13 minutes left, Robinson was substituted, to a standing ovation, with his place going to Peter Grant.

Troy Flavell was yellow-carded with 10 minutes to go for a clumsy high challenge on Habana as a game which had promised so much early on ended up petering out to a tame conclusion.

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Barbarians: Robinson, Rokocoko, Smith, Nonu, Neivua, Giteau, Marshall, Pucciarello, Regan, Ma’afu, Cockbain, Harrison, Elsom, Williams, Collins. Replacements: Brits, Moller, Flavell, Owen, Shanklin, Grant, Cohen.

South Africa: Pienaar, Ndungane, Fourie, Steyn, Habana, Pretorius, Januarie, van der Linde, B. du Plessis, J. du Plessis, Muller, Ackermann, Pieterse, Smith, Kankowski. Replacements: Liebenberg, van der Merwe, van den Berg, Lobberts, Olivier, Julies, Jantjes.

World champions South Africa saw departing coach Jake White off in style with an impressive victory over Wales.

The Springboks scored five tries on the way to their 34-12 victory at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Tries from Juan Smith, Jaque Fourie (2), JP Pietersen and Ryan Kankowski proved too much for the Welsh.

Nigel Davies’ side showed flashes of what they are capable of with Colin Charvis and Morgan Stoddart crossing either side of half-time.

While Wales dominated first-half territory, the South Africans were clinical with the possession they had.

Nearly every venture into Wales’ 22 resulted in points for the world champions.

Outside-half Francois Steyn got their first points of the game, sending over an early penalty, after Wales number eight Jonathan Thomas had been penalised for a high tackle on Bakkies Botha.

The set-piece was always going to be the most crucial area of the game and Wales struggled in both the line-out and in the scrum.

In particular, prop Rhys Thomas, making his first Wales start, was being given a torrid time by CJ van der Linde.

It took the South Africans until midway through the first half to get their first try of the afternoon.

Flanker Juan Smith scored it, beating several weak tackles and make it 10-0.

Hook, who had earlier dislocated a finger, was then the victim of a high tackle from South African flanker Schalk Burger to give Wales their first opportunity to add some points.

But Hook, still rattled from the hit by Burger, sent his penalty wide from in front of the posts.

The Springboks punished Wales with two tries in five minutes, both coming from centre Fourie.

His first came in the corner after quick hands gave South Africa space out wide.

Minutes later a clinical move from a South African line-out saw Fourie cut through the Wales midfield with ease.

Wales looked to be heading towards a first-half whitewash but just before the break Charvis finished off Stoddart’s chip and chase for 22-5.

It was Charvis’ 22nd try for Wales, also making him the world record try scorer for a forward.

South Africa took just four minutes to respond in the second half with the unusually quiet Bryan Habana showing blistering pace out wide before releasing Pietersen to cross for 27-10.

Andre Pretorius sent over the conversion, his third of the game, as South Africa moved into a comfortable lead.

Wales continued to plug away and Stoddart, making his Wales debut, got his reward for a decent game.

James Hook created it, launching a cross-field kick behind South Africa’s defence for Stoddart to gratefully receive and touch down for Wales’ second try.

That sparked mass changes from both sides and the game became disrupted as a result.

Mike Phillips injected his usual physical presence following his introduction, upsetting more than one South Africa player in the process.

But South Africa continued to put pressure on Wales’ defence and with 12 minutes remaining number eight Kankowski finished off an overlap to increase his side’s lead.

Wales pressed for their third try of the game but the experienced South African defence held out to send White off in style.

For Wales’ new coach Warren Gatland, who takes over from caretaker coach Davies, the performances of several of the newcomers to the squad would have given him encouragement ahead of next year’s Six Nations.

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Wales: Stoddart, M. Jones, Parker, Henson, Shanklin, Hook, Peel, Jenkins, Bennett, R. Thomas, Evans, A. Jones, Charvis, Sowden-Taylor, J. Thomas.
Replacements: James for Stoddart (69), Sweeney for Hook (76), Phillips for Peel (53), T. Thomas for Bennett (53), D. Jones for R. Thomas (69), Charteris for Evans (53), Popham for Charvis (61).

South Africa: Pienaar, Pietersen, Fourie, Steyn, Habana, Pretorius, Januarie, van der Linde, Smit, J. du Plessis, Botha, Muller, Burger, Smith, Kankowski.
Replacements: Ndungane for Pietersen (75), Olivier for Pretorius (59), Jantjes for Januarie (78), B. du Plessis for van der Linde (75), van der Merwe for J. du Plessis (64), van den Berg for Botha (40), Lobberts for Kankowski (78).
Sin Bin: van den Berg (48), B. du Plessis (77).