South Africa rugby names Adriaan Strauss as new captain

Hooker Adriaan Strauss will lead the South Africa’s Springboks against Ireland at Newlands on June 11, after being named as the 57th Springbok rugby captain.

The popular hooker follows in the footsteps of long-serving Springbok captain Jean de Villiers as well as Victor Matfield.

Strauss succeeds Matfield, who led the Springboks in the World Cup bronze medal match last year and has only been appointed for the three-test series against the Irish.

“The Springboks means a lot to the people of South Africa and we as players are very proud, very excited to play for the boks, but we know, especially in our country we play for a much higher purpose and it’s for every single person out there supporting the boks, every single South African, and we want to make the supporters proud and that’s why as a group we decided to get together and play good rugby, try play winning rugby and try and make the people out there proud of us,” said Strauss.

Congratulations to #Springboks captain no 57, Adriaan Strauss. First up IrishRugby https://t.co/Fg8ERAewXT pic.twitter.com/R4mzCQtMGj

— Springbok Women (WomenBoks) May 30, 2016

The 30-year old hooker has played 54 test matches for South Africa since making his debut in 2008, scoring six tries to date. He also presented the Springboks at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, where he earned his 50th test cap against Samoa.

He became the 800th Springbok when he was called up to do duty in the 2008 Castle Lager Rugby Championship, making his debut on 19 July 2008 against Australia in Perth aged just 22-years old. He has played in a total of 57 Springbok matches, including three non-tests.