Vos to skipper Springboks

Andre Vos: Best man for the job

Andre Vos has been retained as captain of South Africa for the England tour this summer.

Convenor of selectors Francois Davids said the 25-year-old would keep the job for as long as he was the Springboks' first choice in his position.

The captain remains the captain while he is the number one choice

Nick Mallett, SA coach

The Cats and Golden Lions star was appointed after South Africa's World Cup captain, Joost van der Westhuizen, stood down to concentrate on his fitness following a six month break for injury.

"It would be useless to elect a captain for two or three weeks and then drop him," Davids told The Citizen newspaper.

Coach Nick Mallett has also given his backing to Vos.

"The principle right from the start was that the captain remains the captain while he is the number one choice," he said.

Van der Westhuizen: Stepped down

The job of South African captain is a tough one, and the public are unforgiving of failure.

World Cup winning skipper Francois Pienaar and the Springbok's most successful captain, Gary Teichmann, were both ruthlessly despatched from the top job.

Van der Westhuizen is widely rumoured to have only avoided the same fate by offering to step down from the captaincy last week.

Mallett has been equally uncompromising in his master plan to build a new side, calling up four new caps and axing 16 World Cup players for a forthcoming Tests.

The Springboks host Canada on 10 June 10 in East London, and England on 17 June in Pretoria and 24 June in Bloemfontein.

Squad

Percy Montgomery, Thinus Delport, Breyton Paulse, Deon Kayser, Pieter Rossouw, Chester Williams, Robbie Fleck, Grant Esterhuizen, De Wet Barry, Japie Mulder, Louis Koen, Braam van Straaten, Werner Swanepoel, Joost van der Westhuizen, Andre Vos, Johan Erasmus, Andre Venter, Warren Brosnihan, Corne Krige, Selborne Boome, Krynauw Otto, Albert van den Berg, Ollie le Roux, Robbie Kempson, Cobus Visagie, Wim Meyer, Charl Marais, John Smit.