Five former Springboks on who new coach Allister Coetzee should pick to lead the Boks against Ireland in June.

Gaffie du Toit (former Bok flyhalf)

'It's quite difficult with so many of our Super Rugby teams playing well. But I reckon it's a toss-up between Warren Whiteley and Juan de Jongh. If he is in the starting XV, Whiteley would be my preferred choice to the lead the Boks. With Allister Coetzee as coach, I also believe De Jongh has a better chance of playing more regularly and he would be an excellent choice too. If both of them start, Whiteley should be captain and De Jongh vice-captain. The only overseas player in the running for the captaincy is Duane Vermeulen, but he is not captaining the team he plays for at the moment, so I wouldn't go that route.'

Garry Pagel (former Bok prop)

‘I think Allister needs to get the balance right regarding players who are in form when he selects his squad to face Ireland. It’s impossible to build a completely new team for the June Tests, especially looking ahead to the next World Cup. You’ve got to gradually bring new players into the squad. You have to have the experience in the side, but not too much either. I think the side was overbalanced in favour of experience at the last World Cup. It’s difficult to say who should captain the Boks at this stage as there are quite a lot of players in form. But a player like Adriaan Strauss would be a good choice to lead the Boks against Ireland.’

Pieter Hendriks (former Bok Wing)

‘My advice to Allister would be to first pick the best available players for the Bok team, and those likely to go to the next World Cup in 2019. And once you’ve picked your team, you should pick your captain from those 15 or 23 players. This story of picking a captain first and then picking a team, in my opinion, is absolute rubbish.’

Werner Greeff (former Bok fullback)

'Duane Vermeulen is the best candidate for the job, but I also know the powers-that-be prefer a locally-based captain. Most of the current captains of our Super Rugby franchises are too inexperienced at Test level to take over the leadership role immediately and are not even guaranteed a place in the team. The only person playing here who I think can lead the Boks is Adriaan Strauss. He is the No 1 hooker in South Africa. Either one of those two will be deserving of the honour, but if were up to me, I'd back Vermeulen.'

Krynauw Otto (former Bok lock)

‘I think as a start, while finding his feet as coach, Allister Coetzee should be as conservative as possible and go with experience when selecting the captain. I always prefer a forward as a captain, so I would suggest Adriaan Strauss. The captain should be a player who is likely to play 90-99% of the matches in his position. I don’t think Warren Whiteley is guaranteed a place in the starting lineup and the same goes for Juan de Jongh, there’s lots of competition in the centres at the moment.’

Photo: Lionel Bonaventure/Getty Images