South Africa have appointed their first black rugby union coach in naming Peter de Villiers as the man to succeed World Cup winner Jake White.

De Villiers steps up to the senior squad having enjoyed success in charge of the Emerging Springboks and the South Africa Under-21s.

The 50-year-old has got the job ahead of the favourite, Heyneke Meyer, who won the Super 14 in charge of the Bulls.

The other names on the short-list were Allister Coetzee, White's assistant, and Chester Williams, winger in the 1995 World Cup-winning South Africa side.