Colours: Green and Gold
Nicknames: Springboks
Major honours: World Cup winners (1995, 2007); Tri-Nations champions (1998, 2004, 2009).
Coach: Peter de Villiers, who has a tendency to make headlines for all the wrong reasons for his press conference rantings, has been happy to stick largely with the Springbok team that lifted the Webb Ellis Cup nearly two years ago. Under De Villiers, the world champs posted their highest score over Australia and England in 2008, defeated New Zealand three times in a row to claim the Tri-Nations title in 2009 and also have beaten the British and Irish Lions, who were made up of two strong Welsh and Irish sides. With De Villiers' crazy antics aside, he must be doing something right to have a success rate of 76 per cent in Test matches. It's better than most previous Bok coaches and if anything, he should be judged solely on this.
Captain: John Smit is a massive figure in the Bok set-up, both on and off the field. The World Cup-winning skipper plays a big role in calming the nerves of his players in difficult situations and proved in the Lions series that if he is ever to be replaced, it should only be when the Boks are 50 points ahead or if the captain is lying on his back blowing air bubbles. Even then, they should think twice. There was speculation that Smit might call it quits after the British and Irish Lions tour. After all, with a Lions series win now next to his World Cup winners medal, and now two Tri-Nations winners medals, what is there left to achieve? However, good news for Springbok fans is that 'Barney' feels he has one more World Cup left in him.
Players to watch: Heinrich Brussow has been a tremendous find for South African rugby. The Cheetahs flanker has seen his stock dramatically rise in recent months, following up his outstanding Super 14 season with some telling performances in the Tests against the British and Irish Lions. He continued to find form in the Tri-Nations, getting the better of 'old heads' Richie MCCaw and George Smith and gives South Africa a lightweight, but effective breakdown weapon not commonly found in Springbok packs.