A jubilant Jean de Villiers was announced on Monday as the man that would lead the South African national rugby team against England.

A sense of calm seems to have returned to South African Springbok supporters after tongues were wagging at the news of a possible recall of Japan based scrumhalf Fourie du Preez to lead the team – the veteran of 61 Bok caps honourably declined the offer.

With that out of the way, let’s focus on the new skipper and why the Bok coach chose the centre for the most demanding job in SA rugby.

De Villiers has been an outstanding servant to South African Rugby, but the burning question remains, will the Stormers captain be able to lead the Boks to a series victory against a resurgent English side that had a Rugby World Cup filled with on-field and off-field shenanigans?

The answer to that question lies in how the playmaker almost effortlessly led the Cape side to the top of the South African conference with grit and determination – leadership skills that were highlighted in the 19-14 win in Pretoria against the Bulls.

The brutal truth is, unlike his predecessor John Smit (without disrespecting what Smit has achieved as a player and captain), De Villers has made the side purely on merit, as opposed to selecting him as a captain first and a player second.

The majority of fans are now wondering what happens next, once the three test Series against the English is done and dusted?

Will Schalk Burger perhaps step in as the permanent skipper? Or are there more surprises in store for the South African public?

Coach Heyneke Meyer has made it clear that his primary goal is to win test matches and that he's not concerned about the world's opinions at this moment.

An unfamiliar approach that has many puzzled, but could work in the unfortunate event that the captain is injured months before rugby’s showpiece in 2015. Panic would be a certainty, so there would be no fault in having suitable candidates that can take over leadership at the most crucial time.

The exclusion of Cheetahs flank Heinrich Brüssow for the upcoming tests has showed the latest Bok coach is not afraid to make hard decisions, so it would be wise to let the coach do what he was paid to do - to pick the best team and captain available at the time.

Catch the new skipper in action this Saturday against the English on SS1/SSHD at 16:00.